The UFC’s symbolic BMF title bouts pit fighters known to put it all on the line each time out against each other for fan-friendly scraps that are nearly impossible to disappoint. Former featherweight champion Max Holloway looks to defend the BMF belt for a second time in the UFC 326 main event against former lightweight titleholder Charles Oliveira.
The UFC 326 headliner is a rematch. Holloway and Oliveira first fought 11 years ago at UFC Fight Night 74 in a featherweight bout. Holloway defeated the Brazilian early in the opening round after Oliveira suffered a neck injury. Current featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski took a close look at the matchup on his YouTube channel and gave his prediction.
“Charles has one sort of style. It being for the BMF, he’s not going to change it,” Volkanovski said. “You ain’t going to see lateral movement from Charles. You ain’t going to see him fight at long range. You’re going to see him press forward, his normal style with his high guard. He likes to really push into that firing sort of range where he doesn’t mind crashing into his opponents.”
“With Max. Max isn’t this KO puncher, you know. He can KO people, Justin Gaethje. He can hurt people 100 percent. But that’s more because of timing, volume. Things like that. He’s going to be a lot more calculated. He’s not going to look for these big bombs unless it’s the last 10 seconds of a BMF fight,” Volkanovksi continued.
With three wins over Holloway, Volkanovski may be the leading expert in the world on the Hawaiian’s abilities. “Blessed” has high-level footwork, timing and takedown defense. His fight IQ is top notch and is more than a capable grappler. It’s those reasons that Volkanovksi believes Holloway will emerge victorious against Oliveira on Saturday.
“I think Max Holloway gets the win. Can he get a finish? 100 percent. I think he can. And you know what? I’m going to go with a finish for Max,” Volkaniovski predicted.