Alex Oliveira stepped in as a late replacement tonight against Carlos Condit at UFC On FOX 29 and was rewarded when he emerged with a second round submission victory.
Round One:
Leg kick for Condit. Now a quick body kick from Oliveira. Agile movement from Oliveira. Condit leaps into a potential knee strike and aborts it and almost gets clipped by a counter hook.
Body kick for Oliveira bounces off Condit’s arm. Movement from Oliveira and then steps into the clinch and lands a nice body lock takedown.
Oliveira in half guard and landing a few elbow strikes to the ribs. Oliveira staying tight on Condit here. ‘The Natural Born Killer’ gets back to full guard. Oliveira brings him over to the cage.
Condit suddenly on top though as ‘Cowboy’ tries for a guillotine choke. Condit gets out of that and Oliveira tries to drive for a reversal that doesn’t pay off. Condit in half guard now and landing ground and pound.
Oliveira trying to explode on a reversal and Condit isn’t having it, instead transitioning to his back and working for a rear-naked choke. Oliveira fights that off, but Condit goes back to it again in the final seconds of the round and again ‘Cowboy’ survives. Dangerous times there for the late replacement though.
Round Two:
Condit starts aggressively with a few punches and a head kick attempt, but Oliveira counters with a nice takedown and has Condit up against the cage.
Oliveira lands a right hand. He stands up over Condit and is almost caught by an upkick. Condit back to his feet, but Oliveira is immediately putting the pressure on with punches to close the distance and then land another takedown.
Oliveira from half guard looking to land strikes. Condit to his knees and looks to stand, but Oliveira is hammering down heavy elbows and he’s opened up a cut.
However, Condit Continues to drive up and is able to take Oliveira down. Condit pouring blood from a cut to the head here as he settles on top.
Condit stands over Oliveira and as he comes back down ‘Cowboy’ clips him hard with an upkick to the chin and that seems to have hurt him and he looks a bit unsteady as he tries to continue grappling on the mat.
They begin to stand and Oliveira wraps Condit’s neck with a guillotine choke attempt. Condit is perhaps too dazed to fight it off properly and Oliveira is able to crank it tighter as he takes him to the mat. The blood-soaked Condit hangs on as long as he can, but then is forced to tap out with 3.17mins of the second round gone!
Major win for Oliveira there, particularly since he was taking the fight on short-notice, and though his takedowns and the cut that he’d opened up on his opponent were gaining him momentum in the fight, it appeared to be the upkick that really shifted the fight firmly in his favor and led to the opportunity for the submission finish.
