Max Holloway walked into UFC 326 fight week making it clear that defending the BMF title against Charles Oliveira is a step toward something bigger, not the finish line.
Max Holloway Wants the BMF Crown and Then Ilia Topuria
At the pre‑fight press conference, Holloway pushed back on the idea that a second BMF win would make him a genuine two‑division champion, even with the belt on the line at lightweight. He spelled out his stance with typical timing and a bit of humour.
“Man, I got another undisputed title on my mind right now. I want to go. A lot of people are telling me that I want to be a two‑division champ. They’re saying this BMF title makes me a two‑division champ. I don’t believe that. I want that gold. So, first things first is Charles Oliveira. And you just reminded me that I’m in the Octagon for too damn long, man. What the hell?”
UFC 326: Holloway vs Oliveira 2 takes place March 7 at T‑Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, with Holloway defending his BMF belt in a five‑round lightweight main event on a card. The matchup revisits their 2015 meeting, when Oliveira suffered a neck injury on a takedown and was unable to continue in the first round, a result that left competitive questions hanging over a pairing that now returns with far higher stakes.
This time, Oliveira arrives as a former lightweight champion with a record built on hurting opponents on the feet before finishing them on the mat, a shift Holloway has openly praised while insisting this is far more than a simple striker versus grappler clash.
Holloway’s résumé coming in underlines why the stakes matter to him. He won the BMF title with a last‑second knockout of Justin Gaethje at UFC 300, then backed it up by defending the strap against Dustin Poirier, becoming the first fighter to retain that belt.
In between those highs, he suffered a knockout loss to Ilia Topuria in a failed bid to reclaim the featherweight crown, the first time anyone had stopped him in that fashion. That setback sits at the centre of his long‑term plan.
Asked again this week about Topuria, Holloway didn’t hide the personal edge.
“[IliaTopuria’s] the first man to do what he did to me, and no one else could, so I’ve got to get that one back.”
Holloway has talked since UFC 318 about chasing payback against Topuria, framing the Georgian-Spaniard as the lone man to hand him that kind of defeat and a name he expects to see again with a belt in play. The roadmap he laid out before UFC 326 reflects that: handle business against Oliveira at 155, cement his status as the BMF king in a second division, then push for a shot at Topuria’s undisputed title once timing and politics line up.
