A clash of legends tops the bill at UFC 326 this Saturday as Max Holloway defends his BMF title against Charles Oliveira, with potential lightweight title implications looming large.
Holloway (27-8 MMA, 23-8 UFC), the former featherweight champion, has committed to competing full-time at 155 pounds. He made a statement at UFC 300 in 2024, knocking out Justin Gaethje to capture the symbolic BMF belt. Gaethje later rebounded to claim interim lightweight gold with a win over Paddy Pimblett in January, further elevating the significance of Holloway’s victory.
Although Holloway briefly returned to featherweight in late 2024 for a title challenge against then-champion Ilia Topuria (15-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC), he suffered a devastating knockout loss. Topuria has since vacated the 145-pound belt and moved up to lightweight, where he stopped Oliveira (36-11 MMA, 24-11) last year to claim the vacant 155-pound championship.
That shifting landscape has sparked debate about where Holloway stands in the lightweight title picture, particularly if he defeats Oliveira this weekend.
Current featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, who holds three wins over Holloway, made his case in a YouTube video this week, arguing that Holloway should earn a lightweight title shot with a victory at UFC 326.
“He’s taken out Gaethje, who's the interim champ. He's taken out Dustin Poirier, who's fought for the title how many times? And now (if) he's going to beat Charles Oliveira (I'm saying this after this fight (if) he wins), how is he not fighting for the title?” Volkanovski said. “I believe he should have already fought for the (lightweight) title, to be quite honest.
“Obviously, he lost (against Topuria), but that was at featherweight against the champ. Then there's an interim (title fight). You'd think that he would have been a no-brainer if the guy that was in the interim was Gaethje, even though he beat Gaethje, I think that should have been Max, to be honest. But 100%, I think he fights for a belt. I think that's clear.”
Volkanovski also acknowledged the potential for a lucrative alternative should Holloway emerge victorious: a blockbuster matchup against Conor McGregor.
“The other (option) could it be a big, big fight with someone like a Conor McGregor or something like that? Max is a big enough star to make that a big fight, but I mean, that's just not a good fight for Conor.”
