If it is a miracle that Charles Oliveira can walk, perhaps no word exists to sufficiently describe the Brazilian’s UFC career.
Up until he was seven years old, Oliveira was no different than any of the other children in the impoverished favela of Vicente de Carvalho in Guaruja, Sao Paulo; he spent every waking moment playing football, apathetic to the dearth of opportunities in the village, determined to convert his passion for the sport into a career. While the conditions in Vicente de Carvalho were not exactly the type to incubate Oliveira’s dream, he decided that they were also not the type to extinguish it. Remarkably, neither was a doctor’s prognosis that Oliveira could become paraplegic.
