The world of combat sports can be a fickle mistress, as a former UFC headliner discovered again on Friday.
Alex Oliveira made his bareknuckle boxing debut at a REN TV Fight Club event in Russia. He was knocked down twice in the first round and suffered a TKO loss to Igor Ionov.
Watch the brutal stoppage below, after which it looked like Oliveira was trying to get his nose back in place.
After a 3-1 start to his UFC career, Oliveira headlined UFC Fight Night 83 against another “Cowboy,” Donald Cerrone. And despite being submitted in the first round, “Cowboy” Oliveira went on a serious 6-1 run from there, including three post-fight bonus awards.
But a first-round loss to Shavkat Rakhmonov in October 2020 started a run of four straight losses in the UFC, three of which came by stoppage. He was released in 2022.
The 36-year-old Oliveira has since gone 3-4 in MMA bouts with three first-round TKO wins but also four stoppage losses. This latest setback marks his third straight defeat in combat sports.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Former UFC headliner ‘Cowboy’ Oliveira knocked out in bare-knuckle debut in Russia
