At UFC 274, Charles Oliveira extended his lightweight dominance with an exciting first-round submission win over Justin Gaethje.

The championship is now vacated as Oliveira failed to make weight at 155 pounds, making him the first incumbent UFC champion to have his title stripped before the fight.

If Gaethje had won, he would have seized the belt, and he came close.

He knocked Oliveira down twice but was forced to submit in a tense match.

Oliveira, 32, who weighed in half a pound overweight on Friday, immediately rebounded from both knockdowns and then dropped Gaethje with a clean right hand.

In a tense bout in Phoenix, Arizona, he then locked in a rear naked choke, forcing the American to submit.

The Brazilian has already won 11 consecutive fights and will now compete for the vacant crown.

In his post-fight interview, Oliveira observed, “There’s something wrong here.”

“Charles Oliveira is the champion’s name. You took my belt away when I made weight on Thursday. I’m a headache for the whole division. I am the victor. This is my moniker. It ought to be here.”

“You coming up or you’re going to run away?” Oliveira asked former UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor.

Gaethje is presently 0-2 in undisputed world title fights, having lost the lightweight belt to Khabib Nurmagomedov in October 2020.