BMF champ Max Holloway will rematch Charles Oliveira in the UFC 326 main event on Sat., March 7, 2026 on Paramount+ from inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Holloway previously defeated Oliveira after the Brazilian suffered a mysterious injury (and subsequent stretcher job) at UFC Fight Night 74 back in summer 2015.
So what the heck happened?
“I lost movement on my left side in the fight,” Oliveira told NY Post Sports. “People didn’t know how to explain what it was so they talked about the esophagus and all of that. The reality of it, it was an injury to my neck. There were talks that I could have been paralyzed because of that. I lost movement on my left side. It was no joke. In the ambulance, the guys were trying to put an IV in my arm, and I wouldn’t even feel it because I couldn’t feel my left side, so I was scared my career was over in that moment.”
Early reports claimed it was a torn esophagus.
In the years since they first fought, both combatants would go on to become champions. The 36 year-old Oliveira (36-11, 1 NC) claimed gold at 155 pounds, while Holloway (27-8), two years younger at 34, captured the crown in the featherweight division before moving up to lightweight to claim the “BMF” belt.
“It’s definitely huge,” Oliveira told MMA Junkie. “It’s one more thing that I can add to my legacy. It’s one more achievement. It’s great. I think that last fight [against Mateusz Gamrot at UFC Rio] I made a statement, I sent a message to everyone in the division,” Oliveira said. “The lion is still hungry and I definitely think I’m going to make another run for it and I’m going to become a champion.”
