Max Holloway wouldn’t be surprised to find himself competing at the UFC White House event in June 2026.
It’s been four months since the 33-year-old Hawaiian earned revenge and retired Dustin Poirier for the first defense of his BMF belt, which he won by knocking out Justin Gaethje at UFC 300 (watch it). Though there’s a loss to Ilia Topuria sandwiched between those high-profile Lightweight victories, Holloway is expected to put his BMF belt back on the line at some point in the next few months.
The
current frontrunner for his next opponent is former Lightweight kingpin Charles Oliveira.
Because Holloway is actively defending his BMF title, he feels like he might end up on the UFC White House card as the sole American male champion (not counting Merab Dvalishvili, who is an American citizen but also represents his home country of Georgia). He’s not overly eager for that event, however, because he’s concerned about having his family attend and doesn’t want to wait that long to fight again.
“There is no American champion,” Holloway told The Korean Zombie (via LowKickMMA). “The only American champion there is, is the BMF title [holder] … So am I going to be on the card? I like my odds of being on it … The odds of me being in there is probably high, like I said, there is no American as a UFC champion but me with the BMF title.”
Currently, Holloway is unbooked and recovering from a broken hand. With the better part of a year remaining until the UFC White House event, there’s a possibility Holloway is able to fight in the first quarter of 2026 and still show up in D.C. ready to throw down.
