UFC 326: B/R Main Card Staff Predictions
It's time for another BMF title fight.
This Saturday, in the main event of UFC 326 in Las Vegas, the much-discussed novelty belt will be up for grabs for a fifth time. This time around, we'll see former featherweight champ Max Holloway and ex-lightweight champ Charles Oliveira duking it out in a fight that hopefully embodies everything the belt is about: aggression, tenacity, showmanship and violence. It will go down at 155 pounds.
Holloway, who will be defending the BMF belt for a second time, has one of the best resumes in MMA history, highlighted by recent wins over Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje, and triumphs over many other champions and top contenders, including Jose Aldo and Frankie Edgar.
Oliveira is one of the few fighters on the UFC roster with accolades to rival Holloway's. He's fresh off a dominant win over Mateusz Gamrot, but is best known for holding the record for most finishes in UFC history, including a record 17 submissions.
It will be the second time Oliveira and Holloway have met. Their first meeting occurred at featherweight in 2015, and ended when Oliveira suffered an injury so mysterious there are still questions about it today.
In the UFC 326 co-main event, we'll get a high-stakes middleweight scrap between top-10 contenders Caio Borralho and Reinier de Ridder, who will be looking to rebound from losses to Nassourdine Imavov and Brendan Allen, respectively. The winner will take a big step back toward the title.
Before that, highly touted bantamweight prospect Raul Rosas Jr. will get his first crack at a ranked opponent against No. 13 contender Rob Font, and Drew Dober will take on Michael Johnson in a clash of lightweight contenders.
The main card will be kicked off by a battle of top-15 middleweight contenders in Brunno Ferreira and Gregory Rodrigues.
Here's how the B/R combat sports squad sees it all going down.
Max Holloway vs. Charles Oliveira II
1 of 5
Tom Taylor: Max Holloway and Charles Oliveira match up beautifully on paper, so it's great to finally see them fight again after their disastrous meeting at featherweight a little over 10 years ago.
Oliveira's jiu-jitsu and knockout power will give him a chance in this fight for every second it lasts. Like all of the former lightweight champ's opponents, Holloway will have to be perfect to survive, let alone win. The thing is, perfect performances are kind of Holloway's specialty.
While he's suffered his share of losses, they've only come against the best fighters alive, and he styles on pretty much everyone else. On top of that, his recent wins over Poirier and Gaethje suggest he is still at the top of his game.
As long as Holloway is able to steer clear of any prolonged grappling exchanges and doesn't get torn up by something in the clinch early on, he will be able to take control of this fight with his volume—particularly body shots—and footwork.
I see Oliveira surviving to the final bell, but he'll be bloodied and far shorter on big moments than his opponent.
Prediction: Holloway by unanimous decision
Lyle Fitzsimmons: There are a couple of times a year that the combat staff's resident Oliveira guy gets to go public, so it's a big week for Fitz. The problem is, you can't be a UFC fan without loving Holloway, too. Two of the best guys on the roster and the biggest hope is that the fight lives up to them.
There are a lot of reasons to like Max. He's looked a lot closer to peak in his last few fights. But I've got to go with my allegiance and take "Do Bronx" to win a classic.
Prediction: Oliveira by split decision
Caio Borralho vs. Reinier de Ridder
2 of 5
Tom Taylor: As a Reinier de Ridder fan, I expect to be a bit disappointed by this one. I just don't see many ways he can win this fight.
While his striking has evolved a lot since his ONE Championship days, it still seems like he'll be a step behind Borralho in terms of technique, and he's certainly less of a power puncher than the Brazilian.
His wrestling and jiu-jitsu might be a bit better than Borralho's, but probably not enough to dominate on the ground like he's done against many previous opponents.
If he had high-level conditioning, he might be able to tire Borralho out with takedowns and top control, but his recent loss to Brendan Allen revealed that his gas tank is actually one of the weakest elements of his game.
Unless De Ridder has significantly leveled up, I see Borralho landing better strikes, staying out of trouble on the ground and winning by decision.
Prediction: Borralho by decision
Lyle Fitzsimmons: A couple of guys get together who were on major win streaks before losing their last fights, so it comes down to which one you bought more into. Borralho became the poster boy for the Fighting Nerds and at least finished on his feet while losing to the second-ranked guy in the division, so that's good enough for this space.
Prediction: Borralho by unanimous decision
Rob Font vs. Raul Rosas Jr.
3 of 5
Tom Taylor: This feels like too big a jump for Raul Rosas Jr. He's been very impressive through the early phases of his career, but not enough to justify the hype he's getting and not enough to warrant a fight with a top-15 opponent just yet.
We're not talking about a Conor McGregor or Israel Adesanya here. He's looked great in a few of his early fights, but he has failed to finish his last two opponents, neither of whom is near Rob Font's level.
Font is a veteran who has shared the Octagon with some of the best bantamweights we've seen. Sure, he's a little long in the tooth at 38, but he's recently thwarted two other young talents in Kyler Phillips and Jean Matsumoto, and I expect him to do it again against Rosas.
Prediction: Font by unanimous decision
Lyle Fitzsimmons: It's get-over time for Rosas, but it's indeed a lot to ask of a 21-year-old to get past a capable veteran who's been in with champs and high-end contenders. Still, Font hasn't beaten those guys, and it seems Rosas, with the wins he's stacked since arriving as a Contender Series teenager, might be the real deal.
Prediction: Rosas by unanimous decision
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Drew Dober vs. Michael Johnson
4 of 5
Tom Taylor: This is an awesome fight.
Drew Dober and Michael Johnson may be long past their days as ranked lightweights, but they're both still technical, aggressive, and powerful.
Both are also a lot less durable than they used to be, which suggests to me that somebody is probably getting knocked out when they meet this Saturday.
I'm not confident, but I'm guessing Dober will be the man standing at the end. I think he's a bit more resilient than Johnson at this stage, and he probably hits a bit harder, too.
Prediction: Dober by TKO, Rd. 2
Lyle Fitzsimmons: Into every main card a few veterans must fall. It's a pair of guys in their late 30s when it comes to Dober and Johnson, so the tiebreaker here is how they've fared lately against similar competition. Dober has sandwiched wins around a three-fight skid in which he got finished twice, while Johnson is 4-1 since the summer of 2022. Need we say more?
Prediction: Johnson by unanimous decision
Gregory Rodrigues vs. Brunno Ferreira
5 of 5
Tom Taylor: UFC 326 will mark the second time Gregory Rodrigues and Brunno Ferreira have fought. Their first encounter took place in Brazil in 2023 and ended with an impressive knockout win for Ferreira.
I foresee a different result this time around. Rodrigues has just gotten a lot better since then. Granted, his ceiling was seemingly exposed in a 2025 loss to Jared Cannonier, but he's proved he can consistently hang with fighters right up to the outer edges of the middleweight top-15.
I'm just not sure Ferreira has quite reached that level yet, so I'm calling for the upset. A more mature "Robocop" evens the score.
Prediction: Rodrigues by KO, Rd. 1
Lyle Fitzsimmons: Funny, it doesn't feel all that long ago that Rodrigues was stopped by Ferreira at UFC 283. The reality, though, is that it's been three years. He's been a different guy while going 5-1 with three finishes, but the problem is that Ferreira has been nearly as good, going 5-2 with a pair of submissions and a pair of KOs. Go ahead and make it two, please.
Prediction: Ferreira by submission, Rd. 1
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