Former UFC headliner 'Cowboy' Oliveira knocked out in bareknuckle debut in Russia

The combat sports world can be a fickle mistress, which a former UFC headliner continued to discover 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.

Check out the brutal stoppage below, after which Oliveira appeared to be trying to work his nose back into place.

After a 3-1 start to his UFC career, Oliveira headlined UFC Fight Night 83 against another "Cowboy," Donald Cerrone. And though he was submitted in the first round, "Cowboy" Oliveira went on a serious 6-1 run after that, including three post-fight bonus awards.

But a first-round submission loss to Shavkat Rakhmonov in October 2020 started a four-fight skid in the UFC, including three stoppage losses, and he was let go in 2022.

The 36-year-old Oliveira has gone 3-4 in MMA fights since then with three first-round TKO wins, but also four stoppage losses. This latest setback is his third straight combat sports loss.

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Former UFC headliner 'Cowboy' Oliveira knocked out in bareknuckle debut in Russia