UFC Fight Night 261 Live Winners and Losers, Results
Another Saturday. Another continent.
The UFC continued a globe-trotting fall season with its third show in three weeks, this time setting up shop at the Farmasi Arena in Rio De Janeiro, where Brazilian hero Charles Oliveira defended his place in the lightweight pecking order along with his pristine record on home turf.
The ex-155-pound champion, now ranked fourth in the weight class, took on eighth-ranked contender Mateusz Gamrot, who stepped in last month when No. 10 Rafael Fiziev pulled out of the bout due to injury.
Oliveira, whose last bout four months ago was a failed title bid against current champ Ilia Topuria, had never lost in Brazil, winning 17 times overall including six times in the UFC—most recently a third-round choke-out of Kevin Lee on a Fight Night show five years ago in Brasilia.
The B/R combat team was in position to take in all the action and delivered a real-time list of the show's definitive winners and losers. Take a look at what we came up with and drop a thought of your own in the app comments.
Winner: Domestic Domination
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When the fight ended, the mosh pit began.
Within seconds of finishing a virtuoso main-event performance against Gamrot with a rear-naked choke finish, Oliveira sprang over the fence and immersed himself in the home-country adoration of family and supporters at cage-side.
It was the perfect finale to a near-perfect effort against a foe who'd arrived with eight wins in 11 fights and enough momentum to make it seem like an upset was possible.
It wasn't.
Already the UFC's all-time leader in finishes, submissions and performance bonuses, Oliveira stalked Gamrot from the start, quickly reversed a takedown in the first minute of the opening round and started chasing finishes by the time the session ended.
He scored his own takedown early in Round 2, snaked his left arm around his Polish opponent's chin and drew the tap for his 32nd career finish at 2:48. And upon returning to the cage for the official announcement, he called for a date with Max Holloway for the promotion's popular "BMF" belt.
"I'm trying to hold back the tears right now," Oliveira said. "This isn't about money, fame, status. This is Brazil."
Loser: Cautious Contender
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Montel Jackson had a lot of things going for him on Saturday night.
He was taller, longer and younger than bantamweight foe Deiveson Figueiredo and he entered their co-main get-together having won six straight fights while the former flyweight champ was arriving on the heels of two straight convincing losses.
But when push came to shove at fight time, the moment may have been too big.
The 15th-ranked contender at 135 pounds was curiously inactive for the bulk of 15 minutes with his No. 6 opponent, getting taken down in each of the first two rounds and winding up on the short end of a split decision in which all three judges saw it 29-28.
Two of those scorecards went in Figueiredo's direction, matching B/R's scorecard.
"It's just a little bit too little. It's just not enough output," analyst Michael Bisping said. "Every time you throw a shot you take a chance. Every time you take a shot you leave an opening, and you can get clipped. I understand, but this is ultimately what we've signed up for. You've got to take chances, take risks, create opportunities."
Winner: Delayed Gratification
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Justice was delayed. But fortunately for Joel Alvarez, it wasn't denied.
The Spaniard debuted at welterweight against veteran Vicente Luque and should have had a short night when Luque was debilitated by a left-hand strike in the opening round, but apparent confusion from referee Osiris Maia allowed the fight to continue and forced Alvarez to settle for a unanimous decision.
It was the first time he went the distance to get a win after five KOs and 17 submissions and was both his fourth straight UFC win and eighth in 10 octagonal appearances.
Alvarez landed a left hook to Luque's head early in the first, impacting the Brazilian's right eye with the knuckle of his thumb.
Maia initially called it an eye poke and allowed Luque to take a knee to recover, but a replay indicated it was a legal blow. Still, Maia allowed Luque more rest time and summoned a cage-side physician before the fight continued.
It could correctly have been ruled a TKO at that point, but Alvarez controlled the subsequent action anyway and didn't seem too annoyed he'd been forced to work longer.
"I'm not satisfied. We're always looking to finish," he said. "I think it was a legal strike, but Vicente is tough. He came back into the fight."
Winner: Heavyweight Future
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Mario Pinto is just the training partner of the heavyweight champion.
For now.
The 27-year-old native of Portugal, now based in London alongside Tom Aspinall, gave a glimpse at an elite-level future with a punishing TKO of Brazilian kickboxing ace Jhonata Diniz that came officially at 4:10 of the second round.
Expected to fight primarily from a stand-up position against Diniz, Pinto instead took things to ground after only a minute and spent the balance of the opening round chasing a submission via key lock and landing hard elbows from a side-mount position.
It was more of the same in the second after another first-minute takedown was followed by another series of elbows that opened a cut over Diniz's right eyebrow and ultimately drew an intervention from referee Joao Claudio Soares.
It was Pinto's 11th straight pro win and second in the UFC after a successful Contender Series debut in 2024.
"That's three finishes," he said. "I'm not in this to take part. I'm here to put my name on the map."
Winner: Visiting Villain
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Kaan Ofli had no problem with a black hat.
The insurgent Australian featherweight came into hostile territory and made short work of local favorite Ricardo Ramos, choking the betting favorite into a surrender after just 3:02 of the opening round in the first main-card fight.
He held his finger to his lips immediately after the tap, then chastised booing fans during a post-fight chat with Bisping and drew even more venom when he said, "Shut up, I'm talking" and later added "Man, I really wanna swear at you guys."
Ofli was in brief distress when Ramos chased his own finish via knee bar in the opening moments of the fight, but he wriggled loose and soon took control while recording his 13th win in 18 fights and first in the UFC after losses in August 2024 and February 2025.
"I came in here, betting underdog, back against the wall," he said. "If there's anyone prepared for adversity it's me. I knew (a finish) was gonna come sooner or later."
Loser: American Exceptionalism
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It was a tough afternoon for the red, white and blue.
And after Americans Thomas Petersen and Clayton Carpenter failed to reach the final horn—losing by KO and submission, respectively—it was left to Texas-based featherweight Michael Aswell Jr. to recoup some exceptionalism in the prelim feature.
The 25-year-old turned the patriotic tide with a hard right hand that drove local hero Lucas Almeida back toward the fence, then followed with a punishing barrage of shots that yielded his first UFC victory by TKO at 1:42 of the first round.
His win came after Petersen was stopped in Round 3 by heavyweight Vitor Petrino and Carpenter tapped by kimura in the first against flyweight Jafel Filho.
"Almeida's a bad man," Aswell said. "I thought he'd be able to take shots. But when that right hand landed, I could see his eyes roll back."
It was a first W after losses on the Contender Series last year and in his official octagonal debut in May.
"My first UFC win," he said. "First of many. So happy right now."
Winner: Star Quality
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Brazilian bantamweight Bia Mesquita already had some buzz, thanks to her social media presence and championship chops from the LFA promotion.
But we've not seen anything yet.
The 34-year-old maintained her unbeaten pro record and crashed the UFC party while doing so, beating Russian foe Irina Alekseeva into a red-faced mess before seizing her neck and drawing a tap via rear-naked choke at 2:14 of the second round.
It's six wins and six finishes (two KOs, four submissions) for Mesquita, who trains out of the American Top Team gym in metropolitan Miami and already has the elite-sounding nickname—"Lady GOAT"—that indicates her intentions now that she's reached the MMA big leagues.
"It could not be better than to be here in Brazil. I came to show what I'm ready for," she said. "I came to be one of the best. It's the Lady GOAT mentality."
Winner: Homeland Security
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It was the only fight on the show that a Brazilian was guaranteed to lose, but Luan Lacerda was determined that it wouldn't be him.
So the Rio-based submission ace was ready to handle anything countryman Saimon Oliveira had for him, including a torrent of elbows in the second round.
Lacerda showed his finishing chops by snatching Oliveira's right arm during the barrage and locking in the armbar that bent it at a gruesome angle until Oliveira tapped at 3:55.
It was his first win in the UFC and first of any kind since 2022, following two octagonal losses in 2023.
"This is me now. This is the new me," he said. "You're gonna see the change."
Full Card Results
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Main Card
Charles Oliveira def. Mateusz Gamrot by submission (rear-naked choke), 2:48, Round 2
Deiveson Figueiredo def. Montel Jackson by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
Joel Álvarez def. Vicente Luque by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)
Mario Pinto def. Jhonata Diniz by TKO (punches), 4:10, Round 2
Kaan Ofli def. Ricardo Ramos by submission (rear-naked choke), 3:02, Round 1
Preliminary Card
Michael Aswell Jr. def. Lucas Almeida by TKO (punches), 1:42, Round 1
Jafel Filho def. Clayton Carpenter by submission (kimura), 4:42, Round 1
Vitor Petrino def. Thomas Petersen by KO (punch), 0:26, Round 3
Bia Mesquita def. Irina Alekseeva by submission (rear-naked choke), 2:14, Round 2
Lucas Rocha def. Stewart Nicoll by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Julia Polastri def.Karolina Kowalkiewicz by TKO (punches), 2:56, Round 3
Luan Lacerda def. Saimon Oliveira by submission (armbar), 3:55, Round 2
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