Charles Oliveira almost slipped on the proverbial banana peel.

The former UFC lightweight champion survived a tremendous late rally from Michael Chandler to earn an otherwise one-sided unanimous decision in the co-main event of UFC 309 on Saturday. After dominating Chandler through the first four rounds, Oliveira ate a flush right hand that fell to him the first seconds of the fifth. Chandler jumped up and threw a flurry of punches in an attempt to steal victory from the jaws of defeat, but Oliveira kept his wits about him and ultimately escaped the sequence intact.

In the end, the judges scored the bout 49-46, 49-46, 49-45 for Oliveira (34-10, 1 NC), keeping the Brazilian’s dream of regaining the UFC lightweight title alive.

“This guy is one of the toughest guys I’ve ever fought. This guy deserves to be here. This guy has all my respect,” Oliveira said after the fight from Madison Square Garden in New York.

“Hey, Dana (White), Hunter (Campbell), whatever’s next in line, I’ll be front row in January (for the title fight between Islam Makhachev and Arman Tsarukyan). Whoever it is, I’m next .”

Chandler’s late turnaround was made even more impressive as the victory appeared to be just a formality for the 35-year-old Oliveira entering the final five minutes of the fight. Oliveira defeated Chandler (23-9) in the first 20 minutes of the fight, beating the American with a series of long straight punches, uppercuts and hard knees to the middle in a masterful show of distance management. But Oliveira’s best work came on the mat, with the ex-champ scoring takedowns in each of the first four rounds and spending much of the match looking for submissions from top position and back control.

But Chandler, 35, was undeterred.

The three-time former Bellator lightweight champion came out of the final round feeling like a house on fire, throwing hard punches with reckless abandon. Even after failing to put Oliveira away, Chandler delighted the crowd with two huge backhand slams as Oliveira clung to his back in the final seconds.

“Aren’t you entertained?” Chandler roared next.

“Maybe Max Holloway for the BMF belt (is next for me), or – Conor McGregor, if you ever manage to get your house back in order while we real professionals have been keeping the Octagon warm, we wonder where you’ve been , Conor! Come back and beat me, if you can!’

Saturday’s co-main event was a rematch of a 2021 fight in which Oliveira defeated Chandler to capture the then-vacant UFC lightweight title with a come-from-behind second-round knockout after nearly had stopped.

Heading into UFC 309, Chandler had essentially sidelined himself since losing to Dustin Poirier in November 2022 to pursue an ill-fated matchup against his “The Ultimate Fighter 31” coaching rival, McGregor. Chandler and McGregor were even scheduled to meet in June at UFC 303, but the fight fell apart after McGregor suffered a broken toe. Chandler eventually moved on, telling Uncrowned that he takes “extreme responsibility” for his decision to lose so much time in the final chapters of his prizefighter career in anticipation of a McGregor fight that never happened.

But after Saturday’s theatrics, Chandler could still be in the running for a possible McGregor fight, even though he has lost three of his past four UFC fights.

Oliveira is now 2-1 since dropping the title to Makhachev in October 2022. He also defeated Beneil Dariush with a first-round knockout before losing a close split decision to Tsarukyan last April.