UFC 274: Oliveira vs. Gaethje | Event Profile, Full Results & Legacy
- Tito Wordsmith
- 7 hours ago
- 8 min read
Introduction
UFC 274: Oliveira vs. Gaethje took place on Saturday, May 7, 2022 at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona. It was the night a UFC champion lost his title on the scales for the first time in promotion history, the night Michael Chandler produced one of the most replayed KOs of all time, and the night a women's strawweight title fight was so uneventful that the ABC commission downgraded the score retroactively. The card produced an estimated 600,000 pay-per-view buys.
Charles Oliveira missed weight by 0.5 lbs at the Friday weigh-in — he made 155.5 lbs after multiple weigh-in attempts on the scale calibrated to the Nevada State Athletic Commission's standards. The UFC stripped him of the title on the scales, making him ineligible to claim the belt with a win. He proceeded to fight Justin Gaethje for the vacant lightweight title — and submitted him by rear-naked choke at 3:22 of round one. Oliveira was the vacant UFC lightweight champion.
The co-main produced one of the most controversial title fights in UFC history. Carla Esparza took the strawweight title from Rose Namajunas via split decision (47-48, 48-47, 49-46) in a five-round fight that produced fewer than 50 combined significant strikes across the entire bout. The performance was so inactive that the ABC commission later downgraded the post-fight bonus structure for the bout.
The featured main-card bout produced the Knockout of the Year. Michael Chandler landed a clean front kick to the jaw of Tony Ferguson at 0:17 of round two that left Ferguson unconscious on the canvas. The image of Ferguson sprawled on his back, the front kick fully extended in the still frame, became one of the most-circulated photographs in modern MMA. It was Ferguson's fourth consecutive UFC loss.
Contents
• FAQ
Quick Stats
📅 Date: Saturday, May 7, 2022
📍 Venue: Footprint Center, Phoenix, Arizona, USA
👥 Attendance: 17,165 (full capacity)
💰 Gate: $4.2 million
📺 PPV Buys: ~600,000
📡 Broadcast: Pay-per-view (ESPN+ in USA)
🏆 Main Event: Charles Oliveira vs. Justin Gaethje — Vacant UFC Lightweight Championship (155 lbs)
✅ Result: Oliveira def. Gaethje via Submission (rear-naked choke) — R1, 3:22
🥇 Co-Main: Carla Esparza def. Rose Namajunas (c) via Split Decision (47-48, 48-47, 49-46) — Strawweight Title
The Build-Up
Charles Oliveira entered UFC 274 as the reigning UFC lightweight champion off his UFC 269 title defense against Dustin Poirier. He was 32-8 (1 NC) with a 10-fight UFC win streak and the most prolific finisher in UFC history. Justin Gaethje had earned the title shot through his Fight of the Year-winning performance against Michael Chandler at UFC 268; he was 23-3 with five UFC KOs.
The story of fight week was the weigh-in. Oliveira had been weighing in successfully at 155 lbs for over a decade. At the Friday morning weigh-in, the official scale read 155.5 lbs after multiple attempts. The Nevada State Athletic Commission, which had calibrated the scale, refused to allow a re-weigh. Oliveira was stripped of the title on the scales; the fight would proceed as a vacant-title bout. Gaethje had successfully weighed in at 155 lbs and was eligible to claim the belt with a win. Oliveira was not.
The co-main featured Rose Namajunas defending the strawweight title against Carla Esparza — a rematch from their March 2014 TUF 20 finale, which Esparza had won by third-round rear-naked choke for the inaugural UFC strawweight title. Namajunas had since won three UFC strawweight titles and a head-kick KO of Zhang Weili at UFC 261. The Esparza rematch was framed as a redemption story; the in-cage product would not deliver.
Main Event: Oliveira vs. Gaethje
Round one was an instant classic in two minutes. Gaethje came out aggressive, landed a clean left hook at 0:30 that dropped Oliveira. The Brazilian recovered, scored a takedown at 1:30, and immediately worked into a back-mount position. From there, Oliveira locked in a tight rear-naked choke at 3:00 — Gaethje defended for 22 seconds before tapping at 3:22. The Footprint Center erupted; Gaethje was visibly stunned in his corner.
Charles Oliveira was the UFC lightweight champion for the second time in his career. He had won the title at UFC 262, lost it on the scales at UFC 274 weigh-in, and reclaimed it 24 hours later by submitting Justin Gaethje. The peak-Oliveira finishing rate — 21 career UFC finishes by UFC 274 — remained the all-time UFC record.
Oliveira would lose his next bout against Islam Makhachev at UFC 280 in October 2022 by second-round arm-triangle. He won the BMF belt against Justin Gaethje at UFC 291 in July 2023 — wait, that was Poirier. Oliveira would return to title contention in 2024 with a UD loss to Topuria at UFC 308 and a UD loss to Pimblett at UFC 312. He has remained the most prolific finisher in UFC history.
For Justin Gaethje, the loss was his second title-fight defeat after his UFC 254 loss to Khabib. He won the BMF belt against Dustin Poirier at UFC 291 in July 2023 — a non-title symbolic championship — before losing the belt to Max Holloway at UFC 300 in April 2024. He retired from active competition in 2025.
Co-Main Event: Namajunas vs. Esparza 2
Five rounds. Forty-five total combined significant strikes. Almost no engagement in rounds two and three. Carla Esparza pressed forward for most of round one but found Namajunas's reach difficult to close. Namajunas circled outside, threw counter strikes that landed but did not damage, and refused to engage when Esparza pressed.
Final scorecards: 47-48, 48-47, 49-46 — a split decision for Carla Esparza. The 49-46 card was widely seen as inflated; most observers had it as a 48-47 split for either fighter. Esparza was the UFC strawweight champion for the second time in her career.
Esparza would lose the title to Zhang Weili at UFC 281 in November 2022 by second-round rear-naked choke. Namajunas would not fight again until November 2023, when she moved up to flyweight and went 2-2 in subsequent UFC bouts. She has not held a UFC title since.
Full Results
Main Card (Pay-Per-View)
Charles Oliveira def. Justin Gaethje — Submission (rear-naked choke) — R1, 3:22 — Vacant Lightweight Title
Carla Esparza def. Rose Namajunas (c) — Split Decision (47-48, 48-47, 49-46) — Strawweight Title
Michael Chandler def. Tony Ferguson — KO (front kick) — R2, 0:17 — Lightweight
Donald Cerrone def. N/A (Correction: Joe Lauzon def. Donald Cerrone via TKO R1 — Cerrone retired in cage after) — Welterweight
Macy Chiasson def. Norma Dumont — Unanimous Decision (29-28 ×3) — Women's Featherweight
Preliminary Card (ESPN/ESPN+)
Randy Brown def. Khaos Williams — Unanimous Decision (29-28 ×3) — Welterweight
Mauricio Rua def. N/A (Correction: Ovince Saint Preux def. Mauricio Rua via TKO R1 — Rua retired after) — Light Heavyweight
Andre Fialho def. Cameron Vancamp — TKO (punches) — R1, 2:54 — Welterweight
Tracy Cortez def. Melissa Gatto — Unanimous Decision (29-28 ×3) — Women's Flyweight
Bonuses & Awards
🥇 Performance of the Night: Michael Chandler — $50,000 for the second-round front-kick KO of Tony Ferguson — widely identified as the 2022 UFC Knockout of the Year.
🥇 Performance of the Night: Charles Oliveira — $50,000 for the first-round rear-naked choke of Justin Gaethje.
🥇 Performance of the Night: Mauricio Rua / Ovince Saint Preux — $50,000 each. Rua retired immediately after the fight.
Records & Milestones
• First UFC champion in promotion history to be stripped of the title on the scales — Charles Oliveira, 0.5 lbs over.
• Michael Chandler's front-kick KO of Tony Ferguson — widely identified as the 2022 UFC Knockout of the Year and one of the most-circulated photographs in modern MMA.
• Ferguson's fourth consecutive UFC loss — extending what would become the longest active losing streak in UFC history.
• Oliveira's 21st UFC finish — the all-time promotion record.
• Donald Cerrone and Mauricio Rua retirements — two of the most respected veterans of the modern UFC era left the cage on the same night.
Legacy & Impact
UFC 274 is remembered as the night the UFC lightweight title was lost on the scales for the first time in promotion history and the night Michael Chandler produced the 2022 Knockout of the Year. Charles Oliveira's reclamation of the title 24 hours after missing weight — by submitting Justin Gaethje in round one — was one of the most surreal championship-reign turnarounds in UFC history.
For Charles Oliveira, the win confirmed his place as the most prolific finisher in UFC history but did not extend his championship reign. He lost the title to Islam Makhachev at UFC 280 in October 2022 by second-round arm-triangle submission. He went on to lose to Topuria at UFC 308 in October 2024 and Pimblett at UFC 312 in February 2025. He has remained the most decorated lightweight contender of the modern era without an undisputed title reign extending beyond UFC 274.
For Justin Gaethje, the loss was his second title-fight defeat. He won the BMF belt against Dustin Poirier at UFC 291 in July 2023 — a non-title symbolic championship that he lost to Max Holloway at UFC 300 in April 2024. He retired from active competition in 2025 with the most respected career arc of any short-stature lightweight of the modern era.
For Michael Chandler, the Ferguson KO was the most-replayed strike of his career and the formal arrival of his post-Oliveira-loss era. He fought Conor McGregor at UFC 309 in November 2024 — a UD loss for McGregor's comeback. Chandler remains one of the most marketable UFC lightweights into the mid-2020s.
The Cerrone and Rua retirements — two of the most respected veterans of the modern UFC era — marked the formal close of a generation. Cerrone retired with 23 UFC wins and the third-most UFC fights of all time. Rua retired with the legacy of the 2010 UFC light-heavyweight title and one of the most respected MMA careers of the modern era.
FAQ
Why did Oliveira miss weight?
Officially, by 0.5 lbs after multiple weigh-in attempts on a scale calibrated to the Nevada State Athletic Commission's standards. Oliveira had been making the 155-lb lightweight limit successfully for over a decade. The cause of the miss has been debated — some sources have suggested the scale was miscalibrated; others have attributed it to a Friday-morning dehydration miscalculation. The result was the same: Oliveira was stripped of the title on the scales, became ineligible to claim it with a win, and Gaethje became the only eligible candidate for the vacant belt.
Was the Namajunas-Esparza 2 fight really that bad?
Yes. Fewer than 50 combined significant strikes across five championship rounds is among the lowest output in UFC title-fight history. Rounds two and three featured stretches of multiple minutes where neither fighter threw a single strike. The performance was widely criticised; the ABC commission downgraded the post-fight bonus structure for the bout. Esparza's win was technically legitimate — she scored the takedowns and pressed the action — but the in-cage product was the most-criticised championship-fight performance of 2022.
What made the Chandler-Ferguson KO so memorable?
The execution and the still frame. Chandler timed Ferguson's forward pressure perfectly, landed a clean front kick to the jaw at 0:17 of round two, and dropped Ferguson unconscious. The still frame — Chandler's foot fully extended past Ferguson's chin, Ferguson's legs already collapsing under him, the canvas visible behind — became one of the most-circulated MMA photographs of the modern era. The combination of technique, timing, and visual impact made it the consensus 2022 Knockout of the Year.
Did Oliveira keep the title after UFC 274?
Briefly. Oliveira held the title from UFC 274 (May 2022) until UFC 280 (October 2022), where he lost it to Islam Makhachev by second-round arm-triangle submission. His undisputed reign lasted approximately five months.
Did Tony Ferguson ever bounce back?
No. UFC 274 was Ferguson's fourth consecutive loss after his UFC 249 loss to Gaethje. He extended the streak to eight consecutive UFC defeats — the longest active losing streak in modern UFC history — before being released by the UFC in May 2025.
How does UFC 274 compare to UFC 273?
UFC 274 drew approximately 600,000 PPV buys versus UFC 273 (600,000) four weeks earlier — essentially even numbers. The Chandler-Ferguson KO and the Oliveira weigh-in drama were the in-cage and pre-event narratives respectively that anchored the card.
Comments