Alex Oliveira grows more comfortable with each Octagon appearance.
The American Top Team-trained welterweight picked up his fifth win in six fights, as he captured a unanimous decision from the previously unbeaten Joe Merritt at UFC Fight Night “Machida vs. Romero” on Saturday at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Fla. Oliveira (12-2-1, 2-1 UFC) prompted 30-27 scores from all three judges.
A former college football player at the University of Louisiana-Monroe, had his moments. He scrambled effectively, opened a cut near Oliveira’s eye with a short elbow strike and denied many of the Brazilian’s advances, on the feet, in the clinch and on the ground.