UFC Fight Night 98 results: Ricardo Lamas chokes out Brazilian choke specialist Charles Oliveira

MEXICO CITY – Onetime featherweight title challenger Ricardo Lamas caught a glimpse at the worst-case scenario when the overweight Charles Oliveira took his back and threatened a choke.

But Lamas (17-5 MMA, 8-3 UFC) survived the round and went on to return the favor against Oliveira (21-7 MMA, 9-7 UFC), catching him in a guillotine choke in the second frame.

The catchweight bout (Oliveira missed the featherweight limit) was part of the main card of today’s UFC Fight Night 98 event at Mexico City Arena in Mexico City. It aired on FS1 following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.

The fight was over at the 2:13 mark of the second round after Oliveira tapped. Only seconds earlier, it looked as though Lamas might have lost his leverage when referee Jerin Valel peeled his foot off the cage. The choke, however, turned out to be enough to force a stoppage.

Oliveira initially was willing to go strike-for-strike with Lamas. But he eventually sought the clinch, quite possibly to save energy after a botched weight cut that saw him have to cut weight twice – once at the official weigh-ins, where he was nine pounds heavy, and once on the day of the fight when officials mandated he not be over 165 pounds.

Lamas gamely reversed the move and wound up on top, and yet Oliveira wasn’t done giving surprises. He used a heel hook to scramble to his feet and then got a big takedown, immediately setting up for a D’Arce choke. Lamas was forced to defend and wound up with the Brazilian on his back, threatening a choke.

Had he not calmly fought the position, Lamas might have been the one tapping. In the final seconds, Oliveira was cranking on his face.

Eager to shrug off the setback, Lamas opened big with a wheel kick. Oliveira retorted with another takedown. But this time, it was Lamas with the reversal. Oliveira fought back and regained top control. The only trouble was he left his neck exposed.

Lamas, the No. 6 fighter in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA featherweight rankings, reverses a loss to contender Max Holloway in his previous outing, while No. 11 Oliveira drops to 1-3 in his past four UFC fights.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 98 results include:

• Ricardo Lamas def. Charles Oliveira via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 2, 2:13
• Martin Bravo def. Claudio Puelles via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 1:55
• Beneil Dariush def. Rashid Magomedov via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
• Alexa Grasso def. Heather Jo Clark via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
• Erik Perez def. Felipe Arantes via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Joe Soto def. Marco Beltran via submission (heel hook) – Round 1, 1:37
• Max Griffin def. Erick Montano via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 0:54
• Douglas Silva de Andrade def. Henry Briones via TKO (spinning backfist) – Round 3, 2:33
• Sam Alvey def. Alex Nicholson via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Marco Polo Reyes def. Jason Novelli via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Enrique Barzola def. Chris Avila via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 98, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s John Morgan and Fernanda Prates contributed to this report on site in Mexico City.)