Posted in: MMA, Preview, Sports, TV | Tagged: charles oliveira, michael chandler, mma, preview, ufc, ufc 262

UFC 262 Preview: A New Lightweight Champ Will Be Crowned

Published Sat, 15 May 2021 08:38:11 -0500

UFC 262 is tonight, live from the Toyota Center in Houston. A full crowd will be in attendance, and they will witness history as a new lightweight champion will be crowned. Following the retirement of Khabib Nurmagomedov in the fall, the UFC held up the division by waiting to see if Dana White could get one more fight out of him. Those overtures proved fruitless, and now the vacant title will be up for grabs, as a UFC stalwart finally gets his shot at glory. To get it though, he has to go through a multiple-time champion, trying to grab UFC gold in only his second fight with the promotion.

UFC 262: A New Lightweight Champ Will Be Crowned — UFC 262. Credit UFC

UFC 262 Fight Card

Charles Oliveira has been with the UFC since 2009, making his debut when the promotion was on Versus, which feels like a lifetime ago. He has had a fantastic career, but since moving back to lightweight in 2017, he is 9-1 and has won his last eight fights in a row to earn his first title shot. An all-around excellent fighter, he brings a multi-pronged attack into the Octagon to take on Michael Chandler. Chandler comes to UFC 262 as a decorated former Bellator lightweight champ, who made his UFC debut in January where he scored a TKO victory over Dan Hooker. Most thought this would be Dustin Poirier in this spot, but he is on to a huge payday finishing his trilogy with Conor McGregor in July. One would think the winner of that fight will be the first challenger for whoever walks out of the cage with the title tonight.

The full UFC 262 card can be found below and can be watched starting with the early prelims on ESPN+ at 6:30 PM EST, followed by the main prelims, and then the main card on ESPN+ PPV.