There’s a reason we haven’t seen Ednaldo Oliveira competing in the UFC in more than 19 months. A couple reasons, in fact, and ones the Brazilian would rather forget. Oliveira (13-1-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC), who made his UFC debut in January 2012 and suffered a submission loss to heavyweight Gabriel Gonzaga , now drops to light heavyweight to fight Francimar Barroso (15-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC) at Saturday’s UFC 163 event. It streams on Facebook prior to additional bouts on FX and pay-per-view. Oliveira, 29, enters the cage with a heavy heart. Two months prior to the Gonzaga fight, he learned his father was losing his battle with pancreatic cancer. While his father was in the hospital, Oliveira made his promotional debut and was choked out in the first round. It was a rough time for Oliveira, who had never previously experienced a loss, and the criticism from fans quickly poured in.
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UFC 163′s Ednaldo Oliveira returns from father’s death, twice-broken arm – MMA Junkie