Current BMF strap-hanger Max Holloway is down for a rematch opposite former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Lightweight kingpin Charles Oliveira.
At this stage of the game, the history between the duo is almost forgotten, less than noteworthy given the overall accomplishments in the careers of both men. It’s been a decade since their initial UFC Saskatoon collision! At the time, Holloway was a young prospect-turned-contender in the midst of a win streak that would eventually see him capture Featherweight
gold, whereas Oliveira was still insisting he could make the 145-pound limit. Both men were seen as top young talents, and their main event clash was highly anticipated.
Unfortunately, it lasted less than a couple minutes. After a couple exchanges, Oliveira fell to the canvas grasping his neck and later claimed to be suffering from a torn esophagus. The injury was never exactly confirmed by the UFC’s doctor, however, and Holloway brought that point up ahead of their impending (but unofficial) BMF title rematch, which is expected to take place sometime in early 2026.
“That’s the fight I want. That’s a fight a lot of people want to see,” Holloway told Uncrowned. “We have history. There’s not too many people right now that people are considering BMFs. But on that very short list, Charles Oliveira is one of them. So you tell me that I get to go out there and defend the BMF title again against a man who’s very respected, who I have history with? And [whenever] they talk about our [first] fight or he talks about it, [he blames] an injury or whatever, so let’s go figure it out.
“If you believe that the first one [ended with Holloway winning] because of the injury — and everybody’s going to come at me and social media is going to come at me after this — at the end of the day, if you guys really did your research, nothing was ever found for an injury when he got released from the doctor. So I would love that fight. He did great things. He actually was a champion at one point, and me getting another win over a top-five guy would only get me closer to a title shot, where I eventually want to be.”
Holloway is currently recovering from his own injury, a broken hand he suffered in his five-round war opposite Dustin Poirier. Once back in action, the Hawaiian is still right in the immediate title mix, particularly if victorious against “Do Bronx” a second time. The Lightweight title is at a bit of a standstill right now, but a Holloway vs. Ilia Topuria rematch at 155-pounds is very possible next year.
