It was May 2024 when the Farmasi Arena lasted hosted a UFC fight card.
This featured the return of Jose Aldo and Alexandre Pantoja successfully defending his Flyweight title against Steve Erceg at UFC 301.
Now Rio hosts an exciting fight night which features some incredible fights, such as Deiveson Figueiredo vs Montel Jackson and Vicente Luque vs Joel Alvarez.
But, the one battle which certainly will get the most attention is the headliner between two world-class Lightweights.
Do Bronxs changes to ‘The Predator’
Fairly recently, on Instagram, Charles Oliveira announced that he would be changing his nickname ‘to confront the greatest of enemies and restore the respect of a people.’
The Brazilian failed to capture the vacant Lightweight title in his last bout at UFC 317, losing by a vicious firs-round knockout to Ilia Topuria.
Once again, the former UFC Champion is on the search for redemption and will not feature on a numbered event for the first time since March 2020.
The 35-year-old will be heavily hoping to maintain his #4 Lightweight ranking and not suffer a downfall in front of his home country.
At UFC Rio, the Sao Paulo-born mixed martial artist was supposed to face Rafael Fiziev, however, the Azerbaijan fighter had to pull out due to a knee injury.
The Brazilian will most likely change his game plan from facing a striker, to a wrestler with his new opponent which shouldn’t be a problem.
Oliveira has secured 31 finishes in his MMA career, 10 ending by KO/TKO and 21 by submission, hence why he always brings excitement.
With a tough looking record to show off, the Chute Boxe fighter will be hoping to succeed in Brazil for the first time since November 2019 when he knocked out Jared Gordon.
Gamer aiming to make the most of his short-noticed bout
Mateusz Gamrot found redemption in his last fight at the end of May, defeating unranked Lightweight, Ludovit Klein, by unanimous decision at UFC Vegas 107.
The Polish fighter steps in on two weeks short notice to face Oliveira in what will be his first headliner in front his of a proper crowd.
The 34-year-old has main evented to UFC events which have occurred both at the APEX.
The first came at UFC Vegas 57 where Gamrot was able to win by unanimous decision against current top contender, Arman Tsarukyan. The second came against Fiziev at UFC Vegas 79 where he won by second-round TKO.
Gamer has only lost three times in his career, all of them being decision losses against Guram Kutateladze, Beneil Dariush and Dan Hooker.
The #8 contender has earned valuable wins, defeating the likes of Rafael dos Anjos, Jalin Turner, Diego Ferreira and Jeremy Stephens.
While he is more recently known for going the distance in his career, Gamrot has claimed 13 finishes inside his 25 professional wins.
A win in enemy territory could put the Bielsko-Biala fighter just one battle away from claiming a title shot.
The Sports Buff ⚽️ ⚾️ 🏈 
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