Charles Oliveira defeats Justin Gaethje via 1st-round submission in headliner at UFC 274

Lightweight Charles Oliveira shook off two big punches from Justin Gaethje and choked him out to win by submission in the first round at UFC 274 on Saturday night in Phoenix, Arizona.

Oliveira (33-6, 1 no-contest) had to vacate the title after missing the 155-pound limit by a half-pound at Friday's weigh-in, leaving Gaethje (24-4) as the only fighter who could take the championship belt.

It may not have been a title fight, but it certainly had plenty of action, including two knockdowns and a takedown by Gaethje. The Arizona native allowed Oliveira up each time and it backfired when the jiu-jitsu specialist knocked him to the ground and took his back, submitting him at 3:22 of the opening round.

A fan favourite from eastern Arizona, Gaethje promised a few "car crashes" in a bid to make Oliveira back down.

He smashed into Oliveira early and often, dropping the Brazilian with punches twice in the first round, letting him up both times so he could keep punching. Gaethje added in a takedown and again let Oliveira get back up.

Like he did after getting wobbled by Michael Chandler and Dustin Poirier the previous two fights, Oliveira rebounded and attacked.

His face bloodied, Oliveira knocked Gaethje down with a hard right and took his back. Gaethje briefly appeared as if he would escape, but Oliveira got a arm under his chin and forced him to tap out with a rear-naked choke hold.

Namajunas had to wait eight years for a rematch against Esparza, who beat her in the UFC's inaugural strawweight fight in in 2014.

Esparza lost the title to Joanna J─Ödrzejczyk in her first defense and spent the next eight years working her way back to the top, rounding out the rest of her attack to go with her elite wrestling.

Namanjunas beat