UFC Fight Night 96's Alex Oliveira not sorry about taunting Will Brooks

PORTLAND, Ore. – Alex Oliveira may have apologized to the crowd for missing weight, but he has no regrets about mocking Will Brooks after the FS1 co-headliner of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 96.

“I think that he deserved even more,” Oliveira (16-3-1 MMA, 5-2 UFC) told MMAjunkie backstage at the Moda Center in Portland, Ore., where he was loudly booed for making an obscene gesture to Brooks (19-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) and celebrating a third-round TKO.

Oliveira claimed he was unable to control his anger when Brooks didn’t accept his apology for coming in five-and-a-half pounds overweight, which forced the former Bellator champ to accept a 161.5 catchweight bout or lose out on a fight.

“I was happy for the win, but I was choked on it – on all the disrespect he showed me yesterday – and it ended up coming out,” said Oliveira via translator and manager Alex Davis.

Following Oliveira’s gesture, Brooks, the No. 10 ranked fighter in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA lightweight rankings, lunged at “Cowboy” and was held back by referee Herb Dean before collapsing in pain; he had complained of a rib injury after the fight’s first round.

The controversy was another sour note for Oliveira after his huge weight miss, which prompted a tirade from Brooks on professionalism and inflenced their heated staredown later in the day..

Oliveira pinpointed a long plane ride from Brazil to America as the cause of his weight problems. Oliveira claimed he gained weight in the air and was unable to remove it, sealing his fate on the scale.

In the cage, Oliveira said he would move back to the welterweight division, where he’s fought four times in the UFC. But he later backtracked on those plans, saying he would confer with his team on his next move.

If he returns to the cage on American soil, he might hear from fans who remember his previous display of sportsmanship.

“I’ve never not made weight in my life, and I’ve also never had this happen to me in my life,” Oliveira said. “I’d like to apologize to my fans and him and his team. I was choking on it, and it happened, but I really feel sorry.”

Not sorry enough, however, to stop himself in the heat of the moment.

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 96, check out the UFC Events section of the site.