There might not be a fighter with a higher combined approval rating between fans and peers than Charles Oliveira. The beloved former lightweight champion transformed himself from someone with a reputation for withering when faced with adversity to an all-time great whose championship run included several come-from-behind victories.
He captured hearts around the world, but he embraced no role more enthusiastically than the one that cemented him among the greatest Brazilians to grace the Octagon. From the Gracies to Anderson Silva to José Aldo and several others in between, Oliveira’s name belongs on the pantheon of the greatest to hail from the South American MMA hotbed, a fitting honor for a man whose moniker, “Do Bronxs,” represents where he was made.