UFC 300: Pereira vs Hill Prelim Results | Winner Interviews, Highlights And More From Las Vegas

Oliveira latched onto a guillotine choke early in the contest, looking to put Tsarukyan away early, but the surging hopeful defended well and escaped. Tsarukyam spent the back half of the round and much of the second in top position, opening up the former champion with elbows, sending the duo into the final round all level. After spending the first half of the final round trading in space, the fight shifted to the canvas, with Tsarukyan initially controlling things before Oliveira attacked a D’arce choke, squeezing through to the final horn.

Everything came down to how the judges scored things, and in particular, the value they put on the submission attempts of Oliveira in the first and third. When the scorecards came back, it was Tsarukyan that emerged on the happy side of the split decision verdict, advancing his winning streak to four and potentially putting him in a position to challenge for the title later this year.