UFC 326 Predictions: BMF definitely doesn’t stand for ‘Bad Max Fight’

UFC 326 hits the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas this Saturday, March 7. The pay-per-view event is headlined by Max Holloway defending his symbolic BMF title against Charles Oliveira. The pair met in 2015, when Holloway was awarded a first-round TKO due to an apparent injury to the Brazilian. You can catch the event live on TNT Sports.

Read on for my UFC 236 predictions.

UFC 326 Preview

The BMF title is on the line here. Without spelling out the meaning behind those letters and making my editor snap his laptop, I’ll just say that this unofficial belt is awarded to MMA’s legendary hard nuts and has been defended in multiple weight divisions.

Holloway is the sort of fighter who epitomises what being a bad MF’er is all about. The Hawaiian is a legend at featherweight, where he holds records for the most knockouts (nine), most finishes (11), most consecutive wins (13) and most total wins (20).

Holloway competes at lightweight now, having beaten Justin Gaethje to win the BMF strap at UFC 300 in 2024.  He has defended the title once, beating Dustin Poirier on points last summer. Sandwiched in between was an unsuccessful UFC Featherweight Championship crack at Ilia Topuria.

Oliveira is certainly ‘B’ enough to fight this ‘MF’. The Brazilian holds the record for the most Performance of the Night bonuses in UFC history with 14. Poirier, Michael Chandler, Jim Miller, Clay Guida and Mateusz Gamrot are just a sampling of the fighters on the receiving end of Oliveira’s brilliance.

The records don’t stop there. Oliveira has the most finishes (21) and submissions (17) in UFC history. He added to both totals against Gamrot last time out. Our man needed a win, having lost by KO to Ilia Topuria for the UFC Lightweight strap in his previous bout. 

Are these two slightly past their best? Perhaps. But their trajectories bring them together at the perfect time. With the BMF belt on the line, this promises to be something special.

The co-main event pits Caio Borralho against ‘The Dutch Knight’ Reinier de Ridder. Borralho was on a seven-fight UFC winning streak before losing to Nassourdine Imavov in his last outing. De Ridder is also looking to prevent a slide, losing his first bout in five to Brendan Allen.

There are also PPV spots for ranked bantamweight Rob Font, who faces the youngest UFC signee Raul Rosas Jr, and knockout-happy veteran Drew Dober who takes on fellow mainstay Michael Johnson.