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An interesting lightweight matchup was added to UFC 210 fight card, as Will Brooks faces the returning Charles Oliveira in a three round affair.
Will Brooks will welcome Charles Oliveira back to the lightweight division at #UFC210 (@DanDohertyMMA) https://t.co/ttQVRpInUY
— Cage Pages (@CagePagesFS) February 12, 2017
Rough Road
The move to the UFC has been a rough road for Will Brooks. After winning the Bellator Season 9 Lightweight tournament in 2013, Brooks cemented his status as the Scott Coker-led promotion’s Lightweight king with back to back victories over Michael Chandler. After two title defenses, though, Brooks tried his luck at the UFC where he signed a six-fight deal and debuted with a UD win over Ross Pearson at the TUF 23 Finale. But one fight later, Brooks suffered the second defeat of his career at the hands of Alex Oliveira, losing by KO at UFC Fight Night 23. The last time he lost, Brooks bounced back with nine straight wins. He looks to rebound again against a tough submission artist.
Submission Specialist
Charles Oliveira’s middle name should’ve been submission because the Brazilian veteran is one of the best submission artists in the UFC. A whopping 13 of Oliveira’s 21 victories have come by submission and he’s had a long line of notable victims in the UFC: Hatsu Hioki, Jeremy Stephens, Nick Lentz and most recently Myles Jury. Despite his grappling expertise, it was kind of surprising to see Oliveira lose his last two bouts by submission, both by guillotine choke to Anthony Pettis and Ricardo Lamas. Still ever dangerous on the mat, Oliveira looks to rebound – just like Brooks – from a defeat and rise as one of the contenders in the red hot lightweight division.
The Odds
Will Brooks is a -260 favorite while Charles Oliveira is currently a +250 underdog. Despite Brooks’ two fight resume in the UFC, he is a proven winner with the Bellator title on top of his achievements. Sure, he lost to Alex Oliveira, but remember Cowboy grossly missed weight for that bout and Brooks still took it. Will Brooks has been nothing but solid all throughout his career and his consistency should be crucial here. If this fight remains on the feet, Brooks has a huge advantage over Oliveira and if this one goes down to the ground (which is likely Oliveira’s game plan), Brooks’ grappling and wrestling are polished enough to match Oliveira.
Aside from a two fight losing skid, Oliveira is expecting his wife to give birth to their first child at about the same time UFC 210 is happening. No matter how focused he and his team says he is about Will Brooks, you can never take away a father’s excitement of his first born child. Oliveira needs a win badly but moving back up to 155 isn’t the solution. Nor is it going to be fighting Will Brooks. Du Bronx hasn’t won at 155 since December of 2015 and he’s not going to win against Will Brooks either. We’re picking Will Brooks to beat Charles Oliveira.
