June 28, 2025; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Ilya Topuria (red gloves) takes on Charles Oliveira (blue gloves) during UFC 317 at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvani-Imagn Image LAS VEGAS — More than a decade after headlining the UFC Fight Night card in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Max Holloway and Charles Oliveira will once again face off in the UFC main event. This time it’s the iconic BMF belt at UFC 326 at T-Mobile Arena.
The pair’s first meeting in August 2015 ended 1:39 into the match when Oliveira suffered neck and esophagus injuries while attempting a takedown, preventing him from continuing.
The fight marked the first time that either Holloway or Oliveira had fought in the main event of a UFC card, and although the results were poor, Holloway was crowned interim featherweight champion in 2016 and unified champion in 2017.
For Oliveria, that night was a legitimate setback in a career that could have blossomed into one of the most notable events in UFC history. He lost three of his next five fights, including a TKO loss to Paul Felder at UFC 218 in December 2017.
But since that loss, Oliveira has gone on a 11-fight winning streak from 2018 to 2022, winning the UFC lightweight championship over Michael Chandler in 2021.
Having watched Oliveira (36-11) over the past decade-plus, the misfortune of that first fight appears to have taken a toll on him.
“Let’s forget about the other fights.” Oliveira said. “The first one didn’t exist. Forget it. He won. That’s it. It’s over. Two great fighters, two legends, two great champions will have the opportunity to put on a great show on Saturday.”
After a successful defense against Dustin Poirier at UFC 269, Oliveira was stripped of the belt due to cutting weight ahead of his second defense against Justin Gaethje at UFC 274.
Oliveira received another title opportunity later that year against Islam Makhachev, but lost decisively en route to submission via triangle choke in the second round. Counting those losses, Oliveira is 3-3 in his last six fights, including a first-round TKO loss to Ilya Topuria for the lightweight belt last June.
Holloway (27-8) has also had some turbulence in recent years, including a classic three-fight loss to Alexander Volkanovski and a knockout blow to Topuria.
Despite this, Holloway’s knockout win over Gaethje at UFC 300 and his dismal performance against Poirier in Poirier’s retirement fight at UFC 318 proved that he is still one of the best entertainers in all of sports.
“I think that moment (with Gaethje) was a moment that transcended sports,” Holloway said. “I saw someone wearing my shirt and I was like, ‘Oh, that shirt is disgusting,’ and they cracked me up and said, ‘I’m not even an MMA fan. I saw this video and I saw your shirt on Pacsun and that’s why I bought it.’” “What a wonderful moment that was.”
Making up the rest of the main card is Caio Borralho vs. Reinier de Ridder (middleweight). Rob Font vs. Raul Rosas Jr. (bantamweight); Drew Dover vs. Michael Johnson (lightweight); and Gregory Rodriguez vs. Bruno Pereira (middleweight).
–Will Depart, Field Level Media
