RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – OCTOBER 11: Charles Oliveira of Brazil reacts after a victory against Mateusz Gamrot of Poland in a lightweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at Farmasi Arena on October 11, 2025 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Ed Mulholland/Zuffa LLC)

Charles Oliveira’s epic UFC Rio return is a reminder at how quickly we forget how good a fighter is. I also believe we tend to exaggerate comeback wins due to them being unexpected or because of their feel-good nature. Hence, why I took some time after UFC Rio to write this article. Because I want to answer the question: How good is Charles Oliveira?

How Good is Charles Oliveira?

Webster’s Dictionary defines greatness as the quality or state of being great (as in size, skill, achievement, or power). I intend to argue, that Oliveira is among the greatest Mixed Martial Artist in history due to his great achievements in the Octagon. Over his MMA career, Charles Oliveira has 21 finishes, the most in UFC history, 16 submissions, the most in UFC history and 21 performance bonuses, the most in UFC history. He is just second behind Jim Miller for the most wins in UFC history. It is certainly plausible that by the time Oliveira hangs up the gloves he will have the UFC all-time records in Wins, Finishes and Submissions. Career longevity has played a huge role in Charles Oliveira’s success with fifteen years in the UFC. Beyond longevity, Oliveira’s greatness comes from adversity. Charles Oliveira had 27 fights in the UFC and eight losses before he became champion. He has overcome the incredible odds of childhood illness and several career set-backs but he continues to persevere.

It does not feel dramatic to say that the whole MMA community was deeply concerned when the UFC announced Charles Oliveira would return to the octagon three and a half months after suffering a devastating knockout loss to Ilia Topuria at UFC 317. Yet, at UFC Rio, Charles Oliveira stepped into the octagon just three months after the most physically damaging loss of his career, and many were concerned that we would witness the end of Oliveira’s career or a second career-damaging knockout loss. Many in the MMA community viewed Mateusz Gamrot as a terrible matchup for Charles Oliveira considering he has been in the conversation for the best wrestler in the lightweight division for several years. Gamrot was able to outwrestle Arman Tsarukyan, who was able to outwrestle Oliveira just eighteen months ago. However, Oliveira showed instantly that he was the better grappler at UFC Rio.

“When you have the greats and Charles, a future Hall of Famer, he qualifies as one of the greats. But when you have the greats, their career generally starts off on fire and that fire starts to dim out. The greats lose a handful of matches. The greats lose 4 of their last five matches. Very common thing, but it’s on the back end of their career. It’s after they’ve stayed in too long is after their glorious moments are gone. We’ve really never seen someone like Charles where the bumps were young, the bumps were early, the bumps were first. Charles is the only guy that I’ve seen that’s getting better later, and that is, what about this performance in front of everything made it inspiring.” UFC Hall of Famer Chael Sonnen stated on his YouTube channel when breaking down Oliveira vs Gamrot.

At 36 years old, Oliveira still has the ability to compete with elite fighters in the UFC. Despite being 3-3 in his last six fights, Oliveira is still a formidable lightweight, a complete fighter and a dangerous opponent for any lightweight. At UFC Rio, Oliveira showed he is far from done. In the Spring, he is expected to challenge Max Holloway for the BMF title. Holloway is a difficult opponent for Charles with great boxing and speed but Holloway has not faced a grappler as well rounded as Charles Oliveira.

“If I had to model my kids after any of the fighters right now, it wouldn’t be Jon Jones. It would be Charles Oliveira. The reason why is that he could fight everywhere. He could fight in the clinch, he could fight on the feet, and he could fight on the ground, and he attacks when he’s on the ground. And he’s able to push the pace. Like, for how long he’s been in the UFC, he keeps on getting better.”  UFC Hall of Famer Demetrious Johnson stated on his YouTube channel following UFC 309

If Oliviera can win a second title; he further adds to his legacy. It is certainly plausible that by the time Oliveira hangs up the gloves he will have the UFC all-time records in Wins, Finishes and Submissions along with a lightweight championship and a BMF belt not to mention the record for most performance bonuses. If Charles Oliveira retires with those accomplishments he will enter the conversation for greatest of all time.