There was a time when Charles Oliveira was consistently calling out Conor McGregor with hopes that he could face off against the former two-division champion in the UFC.
As he prepares to clash with Max Holloway in the UFC 326 main event on Saturday with the symbolic “BMF” title on the line, the Brazilian admits his real goal is getting back to the undisputed championship and a potential rematch against Ilia Topuria. That said, Oliveira isn’t opposed to the McGregor fight — if the Irish superstar
actually returns to action as he’s teased lately — but that matchup is really more about a paycheck than adding anything to his legacy.
“Being truthful, I’ve always been [honest about this] and I will again, to fight Conor it would be for the money,” Oliveira said during UFC 326 media day. “That’s it. Simply that.”
While money would be the driving force behind a McGregor fight, Oliveira definitely has more riding on his fight on Saturday against Holloway.
Technically the fight serves as a rematch after they first met back in 2015 but that night ended in disappointing fashion after Oliveira suffered a freak injury that ended his night less than two minutes into the opening round.
Many fighters don’t view losses due to injury as legitimate but Oliveira won’t take that win away from Holloway. He just wants his chance to earn some revenge at UFC 326.
“The first fight between us, let’s kill that one. That’s it. He won that fight,” Oliveira said. “That’s it. Two great fighters, two legends, two guys that put on a show. We’re going to put on a great show on Saturday.”
When it comes to the “BMF” title, Oliveira takes that seriously even if the belt wasn’t supposed to exist beyond the night it was created for a fight between Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz.
UFC CEO Dana White always downplayed introducing the “BMF” belt as an actual championship for the promotion but Holloway added some gravitas to the title after knocking out Justin Gaethje to win the belt and then defending it this past July in a slugfest against Dustin Poirier.
For his part, Oliveira believes every fighter who has ever touched the “BMF” belt has added something to the legacy of the belt so it definitely means something to him to win it.
“For sure this is a title,” Oliveira said. “This is a belt. The opportunity to take it down to Brazil, something that has never been done before by a Brazilian athlete. When I talk about legacy and getting things, the records and everything else, that’s what I’m talking about.
“I think each and every fighter that actually has held it has given its importance. They’ve had their ways and now Max has found a way to give it even more importance to a belt like that.”
If he’s successful on Saturday, Oliveira could potentially pursue that McGregor fight for a hefty payday but he actually prefers returning home with hopes that the UFC could finally stage a card at a stadium in Brazil.
Oliveira believes it’s long past time the UFC put on a show like that but adding his star power alongside somebody such as Alex Pereira could produce a massive, sold out crowd in Brazil.
“I’ve said this before and I said it after my last fight — Brazil deserves it,” Oliveira said. “This is the time for us to do it. This is the time to make it happen. To make it in a stadium. Brazil deserves that. The Brazilian people deserve that. A stadium, closed, put an octagon in the middle and we’re going to do our job, which is to fill that stadium up to capacity.
“Listen, Dana [White], Hunter [Campbell], Sean [Shelby], everybody get it together. The Brazilian people deserve this and we’re going to make it beautiful.”
