Going into his bout with Jim Miller at UFC 124, Charles Oliveira was pulling a standing-room-only hype train. The undefeated 20 year old had submitted The Ultimate Fighter winner Efrain Escudero at UFC Fight Night 22 in a judo chop worthy performance. That win brought "do Bronx" to 2-0 in the UFC and 14-0 overall. Many fans expected him to blitz past Jim Miller and cruise into title contention, but it wasn't to be.
Oliveira spoke to Tatame.com about his first loss:
Tatame: What went wrong on the fight?
Oliveira: The game plan has been set, but these things happen. I lost on that aspect I like the most, Jiu-Jitsu... It's a mistake I couldn't have done. At the time I was sad, but now I keep my head up, I'll return to my trainings and I'll hope Dana White to call me again. I can't lose my motivation. I've fought three times and won twice, I've lost to Jim Miller, a really tough guy. Everybody saw that I was on a good place at that fight. I blinked and he got me, a silly mistake.
Tatame: Did you expected that he would try to take you down right on the beginning?
Oliveira: No... I thought he'd try to fool me and trade some punches and then he's try to take me down, but it happened. I was running away from my Jiu-Jitsu, but he hit me with his elbow, I think, and I made a mistake and he got my feet. He said many crap, but it was a mistake I did and a quick move from him.
...Tatame: Many say that the first loss feels like a "relief", because you are no longer pressure by your unbeaten Mark... Do you believe that now you'll get more comfortable when you have another fight to do?
Oliveira: There's no such thing... In all my fights I felt comfortable, moved forwards, independently of how many fights I had done. The only thing that changes is what Wanderlei, Shogun, Veio, Macaco, Thiago Pitbull, experienced guys, told me: "everybody was defeated once, and when you only win you lose your motivation". Now I know how it is to lose. When I won, I was happy, but today I've tasted the defeat and I no longer want it. I have to get more focused and become a better athlete. I don't want to get used to the losses, and I know how long it lasts.