Unlike a number of previous Absolute Fighting Championship numbered tournaments, UFC 262 could not please fans with an oversaturated card. There was only one championship fight in it, and the number of star fighters was noticeably reduced by the time of the beginning. First, Nate Diaz was injured, as a result of which his battle with Leon Edwards was canceled, and then, due to the coronavirus, the duel between Jack Hermansson and Edmen Shahbazian was postponed. But even despite this, the event aroused great interest among fans of mixed martial arts, which is confirmed by at least 16 thousand fans in the stands of the Toyota Center.

This kind of excitement was due to the two main fights of the evening. In the first of them, Tony Ferguson was about to rehabilitate himself for two consecutive defeats and prove that he still belongs to the UFC lightweight elite. To do this, he needed to beat the uncompromising Beneil Dariush, who had a streak of six victories in a row, four of which were won ahead of schedule. And in the main battle of the evening, the heir of Khabib Nurmagomedov in the 70 kg division was to be determined. In the fight for the vacant title, the third and fourth numbers of the rating met - Charles Oliveira and Michael Chandler.

As for the rest of the card, although it lacked the stars, there were plenty of stars ready to make a bright show in the octagon. Perhaps this is due to the fact that especially for this tournament, the UFC management increased the prize money for the best performance and fight of the evening from $ 50 thousand to $ 75 thousand. One way or another, six fights ended ahead of schedule, and the tone for the evening was set by the first duel. For less than six minutes, its members beat each other until Christos Giagos caught Sean Soriano for a spectacular strangulation of D'Ars. The 31-year-old American won his second championship win in a row and was one of those to receive a cash bonus from Dana White.

The fights with the participation of Andrei Lee and Andre Muniz also ended with the surrender. The American made the sister of the flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko, Antonina, knock, and the Brazilian - her compatriot, the holder of a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Ronaldo Sousa. 41-year-old athlete fell on the elbow lever and lost in the fourth duel in a row. Thus, the former number one of the middleweight rankings made it clear that his best years were in the past.

Not without colorful knockouts. Priscila Cachoeira took over Gina Mazani, and Jordan Wright sorted out Jamie Pickett in just 64 seconds. At the same time, the battle between Edson Barbosa and Shane Burgos made a special impression on both the fans and the management. The rivals staged a bright and bloody fight, the result of which was a unique knockout performed by the Brazilian. At the beginning of the third round, the American missed a series of punches and did not show it, but after a few seconds he suddenly stepped back and collapsed onto the canvas. Finishing off was unnecessary.

Unlike his former opponent, Ferguson was once again unable to emerge from the cage as a winner. The battle with Dariush, although it included a couple of memorable episodes, still did not go as expected by MMA fans. Beneil decided to use the weakness of his opponent and at the slightest opportunity transferred him to the ground, where he had a solid advantage. In the middle of the second round, he completely caught Tony twisting his heel, but he miraculously endured the pain, and subsequently got out of the grip.

Overall, Dariusz made a takedown in each of the three rounds and was in a dominant position for 12 minutes 15 seconds. It is not surprising that after the allotted time, each of the judges gave him all three rounds. Beneil won the 15th victory in the UFC and came in fourth in the history of the lightweight division for this indicator. Ferguson lost for the third time in a row and made it doubtful that he was still able to compete on an equal footing with the stars of the category.

Unlike the second most important battle of the tournament, the main fight turned out to be extremely dynamic and eventful. Applicants for the belt chose not to postpone the matter and from the first seconds began to demonstrate the show in a cage. The exchange in the stand gave way to Oliveira's pass to the legs, but almost ended with a guillotine performed by Chandler. The holder of a black belt in Brazilian J-Jitsu broke free, walked behind his back and tried to carry out a rear strangulation. However, Michael did not hesitate and first stamped Charles into the canvas, and then with a sharp movement came out of the grip.

The second half of the round was dictated by Chandler. First, he worked a lot of low-kicks on the hips of a lying Oliveira, and then had a powerful series in a standing position. The Brazilian stumbled back to the net, then lost his balance and fell to his knees, continuing to miss one blow after another. Miraculously, he managed to survive the flurry of attacks performed by the American.

At the end of the five-minute session, it was noticeable that Chandler was noticeably exhausted, trying to end the duel ahead of schedule. The ex-Bellator champion was breathing heavily and looked pretty sour, while Oliveira looked pretty cheerful. And when the fighters met in the center of the cage, it was noticeable that Michael was noticeably inferior both in movement speed and in the sharpness of the blows. Perhaps that is why Charles' lightning attack took him by surprise. The Brazilian missed a right straight, but the left hook hit right in the jaw. The American fell to the canvas, but quickly got up and tried to run away from his opponent. However, he overtook him with a series of powerful hits from the left. Referee Dan Miragliotta watched the beatings for a while, but then decided to intervene.

Charles Oliveira knocked out Michael Chandler in the second round and became the 11th UFC lightweight champion, replacing Khabib Nurmagomedov on the throne. The Brazilian not only received $ 75 thousand for the "Performance of the Evening", but also set the record of the Absolute Fighting Championship for the number of early victories (17). In addition, the Brazilian went down in history as an athlete whose path to the belt turned out to be the longest. To do this, he needed to spend 11 years in the organization and take part in 28 fights.