Things didn’t go Vinicius Oliveira’s way in the UFC Vegas 113 headliner, and he thinks an injury is to blame.
Oliveira shared the Octagon with Mario Bautista inside the Meta APEX in Las Vegas on Saturday. Bautista was the favorite going into the fight, and it was clear that his grappling would be the deciding factor early on. Ultimately, Bautista scored the second-round submission finish via rear-naked choke.
For many, Oliveira’s performance left a lot to be desired, especially given the pre-fight banter he had for top contender Umar Nurmagomedov. Oliveira spoke to AG.Fight following UFC Vegas 113, and he revealed an injury prevented him from executing his game plan (via MMAFighting).
“I could have cancelled the fight,” Oliveira said. “I broke my arm. There wasn’t much I could do, but I decided to move forward. For a good while we trained with my arm in a cast. It was actually a bit reckless on our part. We kept it under wraps, but I was determined to fight regardless of the injury.”
Oliveira then explained that when he found himself on the mat, he was struggling to get back up due to the pain in his arm.
“I got taken down and couldn’t do the shield to get back up because that was exactly where it hurt,” Oliveira said. “I tried, but it hurt too much. I said in between round that it was hurting. We went on through the pain, but it was really bad. I started throwing jabs, but even just the movement of punching air hurt a lot.”
This is “Lok Dog’s” first loss under the UFC banner. It’s the fourth defeat of his pro MMA career. Oliveira hadn’t suffered a loss since July 2022.
Do you think Vinicius Oliveira can rebound following the loss to Mario Bautista or has he reached his ceiling? Tell us in the comment section below.