Charles Oliveira insisted Monday that the much-anticipated rematch between himself and Max Holloway will happen in the first half of 2026 but said it will not happen in January.
Oliveira appeared to be attempting to set the record straight after UFC Brazil’s X account published then quickly deleted a message Saturday announcing a lightweight matchup between Holloway and Oliveira for the “BMF” title at UFC 324 on Jan. 24 in Las Vegas.
“Look, there’s nothing confirmed about my fight, Max Holloway and I for January,” Oliveira said on his Instagram stories Monday, with translation by Brazilian journalist Guilherme Cruz of MMA Fighting.
“I’m on vacation with my family. That (post) came out these days, and there’s a lot of people calling me, tagging me. So far, we don’t know anything. And it certainly won’t be in January, just to make it clear. But this fight will happen. I want it, he wants it and you also want it.”
Holloway, 33, is a former UFC featherweight champion and current unofficial holder of the UFC’s “BMF” designation (a symbolic title representing the promotion’s “baddest” fighter). Holloway (27-8) retained the BMF title with a unanimous-decision win over Dustin Poirier in July at UFC 318.
The 36-year-old Oliveira (36-11, 1 no contest) is a former UFC lightweight champ, the class at which both he and Holloway currently compete.
Holloway beat Oliveira by TKO in a featherweight bout on Aug. 23, 2015.
Holloway previously told Uncrowned of opposing Oliveira, “That’s the fight I want. That’s a fight a lot of people want to see. 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.”
–Field Level Media
