Charles Oliveira was told he would never walk again due to illness, suffered a life-threatening inju

May 25, 2024

Charles Oliveira's journey from being told as a child that he would need a wheelchair to becoming UFC lightweight champion is a story of perseverance.

And as the man himself said after beating Michale Chandler to win the vacant belt last year: "I'm proving to everybody I'm the lion of lions."

Oliviera has the potential to stretch his hot streak inside the Octagon to 11 wins in a row by beating Justin Gaethje at UFC 274.

But as ever, the odds are stacked against the Brazilian after he was stripped of his world title after missing weight ahead of the bout.

To win back the belt he never lost, Oliviera must beat Gaethje then the future No.1 contender in order to be officially recognised as champ again.

Yet 'do Bronx' fired back: "The champion has a name and his name is Charles Oliveira. I came here to once again show my story of overcoming and I’ll overcome once more time.”

The 32-year-old's rapid rise from UFC scrapheap to ten victories on the bounce - only one, against Tony Ferguson, going the distance - has been remarkable.

Oliviera's situation at Dana White's company looked in perilous shape after two separate runs of four defeats in six fights.

During those dark times, the Brazilian almost suffered a near fatal injury in his first-round TKO defeat to Max Holloway at UFC Fight Night 74 in 2015.

The bout was waved off less than two minutes in when Oliviera dropped to the floor and appeared to clutch his neck before being rushed to hospital.

The UFC revealed that Oliveira suffered ‘a micro tear in his esophagus’ after shooting for a takedown on Holloway.

"I injured my neck in training, but did physical therapy and thought everything was fine," Oliveira told MMAFighting.com.

"But when I fell against the cage everything went numb, I couldn’t feel my body."

Oliveira thankfully made a full recovery but that wasn't a surprise to anyone familiar with his upbringing.

His nickname 'Do Bronx' is Brazil slang for 'of the favela', and the fighter's journey started in the favelas of Vicente de Carvalho in Guaruja, near Sao Paolo.

Oliveira was diagnosed with bone rheumatism and abnormal heart murmurs as a football obsessed seven-year-old.

His mother Ozana told ESPN Brazil: "The doctor said that he would not walk, that he would stay in a wheelchair.

"And we said that we would not accept that."

Oliveira added: "The doctors said that I couldn't play sports, but as I told my father and mother, I would rather die than stop doing the things I liked."

The lightweight champion never ended up using a wheelchair, and he soon found MMA after a man named Paulo, father to two of Oliveira's friends, took him and his brother to jiu-jitsu class.

Paulo was tragically shot dead two years later and never got to see what had become of the UFC's specialist submission artist.

"He had become part of our family," Oliveira told ESPN.

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