UFC 326 is in the books, and we have a new BMF champion.<\/p>\n
Charles Oliveira dominated Max Holloway for 25 minutes on Saturday, driving the fight with oppressive wrestling and ground control, much to the chagrin of most of the fan base. On top of that, the UFC finally announced the matchups for the White House card this summer, which was also met with tepid responses.<\/p>\n
So, following the latest numbered event, the MMA Fighting crew gathered to break down the biggest storylines from this Saturday\u2019s big event.<\/p>\n
1. What\u2019s your blurb review of UFC 326?<\/p>\n
Heck: As a man who has made it a mission to be more positive in 2026, this card wasn\u2019t it. If the UFC White House card wasn\u2019t announced, it would be one of the most forgettable numbered cards in a very long time.<\/p>\n
Martin: UFC 326 was definitely \u201cBMF\u201d. That was a boring mother \u2026well, you get the point.<\/p>\n
Meshew: UFC 326 was the first time I really started to give credence to the idea that MMA and the UFC\u2019s product might be in serious trouble.<\/p>\n
2. Did Charles Oliveira just kill the BMF title?<\/p>\n
Lee: There\u2019s nothing more BMF than winning fights and getting paid, but yeah, he kind of did. And you know what? Mercy killing.<\/p>\n
Heading into Saturday, I stated my belief<\/a> that this current iteration of the BMF belt has run its course both in terms of fan interest and matchmaking utility. Oliveira\u2019s win only strengthened that opinion. There\u2019s no one to blame here, not Oliveira, not the matchmakers, not even Holloway, who grappled his heart out just to make it to the scorecards. Sometimes you have amazing matchups on paper that turn out to be duds.<\/p>\n What we can take from this is that belts don\u2019t guarantee excitement and certainly can\u2019t force someone to fight a certain way. All this particular trinket has become is another title to slot into a headlining spot in accordance with the UFC\u2019s relentless Paramount+ schedule. How fun!<\/p>\n Once this thing became corporate, the BMF magic already started to rapidly fade. It needs a break, and if it\u2019s gone for good, I won\u2019t shed too many tears for it.<\/p>\n Heck: Can you actually kill something that isn\u2019t real?<\/p>\n Let me just say that what Charles Oliveira did on Saturday night was incredibly impressive. He straight hossed Max Holloway for 25 minutes in a fight that wasn\u2019t competitive outside of the first 15 seconds. To do that to Holloway was truly eye-opening. To add even more context, Holloway landed 26 significant strikes in the fight. 26! For Max Holloway! Sick, sick stuff from \u201cDu Bronx.\u201d<\/p>\n However, the fan base doesn\u2019t seem to care.<\/p>\n The BMF thing just has a different vibe, and while Oliveira needed this win to stay in the title hunt, it didn\u2019t encapsulate what those three letters stand for, and that\u2019s certainly not Oliveira\u2019s fault because winning is the most important thing. Unfortunately, this is just a concept that provides an expectation that can\u2019t be delivered upon 100 percent of the time, and it\u2019s for a belt that\u2019s NOT REAL. This was only supposed to happen one time, remember? And the reason it got extra juice is that it went to the best and most fun division in the sport. I\u2019m sure Oliveira is happy to put the BMF belt in his trophy case, but the belt he really cares about is the one Ilia Topuria owns after brutally icing him less than a year ago.<\/p>\n Should it go away forever? It really should. It won\u2019t, though.<\/p>\n Should we wait a few of years, at least, before the BMF title is a prize in a fight? 1,000 percent!<\/p>\n The \u201cBMF\u201d title was supposed to just be a one-time thing, but then half the athletes on the roster started calling for a shot at that belt, and the UFC always needs title fights, so it just became a thing. But this isn\u2019t some No. 1 contender\u2019s belt where winning means you actually get a shot at the real undisputed title. Instead, \u201cBMF\u201d effectively became known as the stand-and-bang title where the two fighters involved are expected to trade bombs on the feet until one of them falls over.<\/p>\n To this point, that worked out pretty well for the \u201cBMF\u201d title, but Oliveira was clearly more concerned with actually winning than putting on some kind of wild melee to please the crowd. And let\u2019s be honest, Oliveira made the right choice \u2014 he dominated Holloway in a way that nobody has ever done before in the UFC, and that\u2019s damn impressive.<\/p>\n It\u2019s almost like everybody forgot that Oliveira is the most prolific submission artist in UFC history so it shouldn\u2019t be all that shocking that he went for takedowns and effectively mauled Holloway on the ground. That\u2019s just not what the bloodthirsty \u201cBMF\u201d crowd wants \u2014 and I get it, that\u2019s the way the championship has been sold thus far. Now the only hope is that Oliveira drops that title in the trash, Alundra Blayze style<\/a>, and he just goes for the ACTUAL lightweight belt instead.<\/p>\n Meshew: Yes, at least for a while.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve always been higher on the BMF belt than others, because I think it\u2019s a harmless way to celebrate more fighters. Not every fighter can hold a championship, and thus far, the BMF matchmaking has been great, with the belt serving as a de facto Legends Title. But last night, the legend may have ended.<\/p>\n I have no issue with Charles Oliveira doing what it takes to win a fight, and I was EXTREMELY impressed with his performance. But even the most ardent \u201cDo Bronx\u201d fan must admit that if the BMF belt was mostly based on vibes, Oliveira didn\u2019t pass the vibes check. At all.<\/p>\n Had Oliveira at least taken the initiative to offer Holloway the point down at the end of the fight (for more than four seconds) that may have been enough to at least curry favor with the fan base. But that\u2019s not how it went. Now, if Oliveira comes out and defends this title against whoever it may be, the whole affair will feel hollow. The man behind the curtain has been revealed.<\/p>\n Fortunately, there\u2019s an obvious solution to this whole situation. At UFC White House, Ilia Topuria is going to defend his title against Justin Gaethje. After that, I would bet you just about anything that he will drop the belt and move to welterweight. That leaves a vacant title, and so instead of defending the BMF belt, Oliveira can rematch Arman Tsarukyan for the vacant lightweight title this fall, with the BMF belt being put on the shelf until another fitting fight presents itself.<\/p>\n 3. What\u2019s next for Max Holloway?<\/p>\n Lee: I have no MF\u2019ing clue.<\/p>\n We knew Saturday\u2019s main event loser would be in a weird spot, but the manner in which Holloway lost left us with even more questions as to how to handle the last chapter of his career. Holloway still rules and fans love him, so opportunities are there; it\u2019s simply a matter of maximizing (heh heh) what\u2019s left of his cage time.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve settled on Michael Chandler. Yes, Chandler already has a date with Mauricio Ruffy at the White House. And yes, Chandler will probably lose, so if he\u2019s granted a fight with Holloway, it would be another case of the irrepressible Chandler falling upwards. But consider it a BMF makeup fight, because if there\u2019s one thing Chandler won\u2019t do, it\u2019s try and take Holloway down, so we\u2019re guaranteed a banger that will help us forget an already forgettable headliner.<\/p>\n Heck: This is a very tough question, with a plethora of options, but I\u2019m going with Benoit Saint Denis, because that fight is bananas.<\/p>\n Of course, after seeing Holloway struggle with takedowns against Oliveira, Saint Denis can present a whole heap of problems, and on top of that, Saint Denis will try to hurt Holloway on the ground. However, if Holloway\u2019s takedown defense can hold up, then we could be in for a really violent treat.<\/p>\n Could the UFC go with a rematch with Conor McGregor? Sure. Would Dan Hooker be fun? Definitely. Could the UFC get real weird and go Arman Tsarukyan or Paddy Pimblett? Unlikely, but not out of the realm of possibility. If Holloway can return by the summer, I think a fight with BSD makes a lot of sense.<\/p>\n Martin: Truth be told, it\u2019s still really whatever Holloway wants outside of a title shot.<\/p>\n Holloway has built a career that will eventually land him in the UFC Hall of Fame, which is why this loss is obviously disappointing but doesn\u2019t necessarily boot him from title contention, much less make him any less likely to headline a future card.<\/p>\n But the real curiosity is that Holloway is 34 years old \u2014 he\u2019ll turn 35 before the end of the year \u2014 and he\u2019s been competing at this level for what seems like forever. He\u2019s got so many fights under his belt that you can\u2019t help but wonder if Holloway is contemplating when the sand in his hourglass will run out.<\/p>\n So, ideally, Holloway getting somebody like Conor McGregor actually makes sense now, but it\u2019s still not totally clear that the former two-division champion is really going to compete again. So, absent that matchup, let Holloway go up against Paddy Pimblett.<\/p>\n Sure, Pimblett is a nasty grappler in his own right, but he\u2019s nowhere near Charles Oliveira, so that might show where Holloway has gotten better since his loss at UFC 326. If he can shut down the grappling and slice up Pimblett on the feet, then Holloway proves he\u2019s still an elite lightweight.<\/p>\n Meshew: I\u2019m gonna go with something I never would have thought I\u2019d say a few months ago: Holloway goes back to 145.<\/p>\n Holloway is a legend, and he can still beat plenty of guys at 155 pounds, but on Saturday, Oliveira dominated him, in part because he was significantly larger. It seems like big grapplers are going to be a problem for Holloway at this weight, and the truth is, why bother?<\/p>\n Alexander Volkanovski has, at best, one fight left at 145 pounds, and then he\u2019s going to either retire or move up to lightweight. And while Holloway fought most of the old guard at featherweight, there\u2019s a new crop of rising contenders he\u2019s never faced. Let\u2019s have Max return to his proper weight class and serve either as an elite test for the up-and-comers or make one final title run.<\/p>\n 4. Who was the biggest winner at UFC 326?<\/p>\n Lee: Caio Borralho is right, the Fighting Nerds\u2019 comeback season is real.<\/p>\n Jean Silva took out top 10 featherweight Arnold Allen, Mauricio Ruffy has himself a fight at the White House, Carlos Prates is in the thick of the welterweight title picture, and Borralho just convincingly beat Reinier de Ridder. Even if there\u2019s some drama going on behind the scenes, the in-cage results speak for themselves, and Borralho might be the biggest winner of them all.<\/p>\n We still don\u2019t know when or who Khamzat Chimaev is actually going to defend the middleweight title against, and while it likely won\u2019t be Borralho next, the Brazilian contender is still near the top of the short list, which seemed like a long shot after his loss to Nassourdine Imavov. The UFC 326 co-main event flew under the radar, but don\u2019t be surprised if Borralho parlays this win into a championship opportunity in the near future.<\/p>\n Heck: Gregory Rodrigues did the damn thing.<\/p>\n After a truly sluggish stretch \u2014 and following a super bizarre fight and scorecards with the featured prelim \u2014 this card needed a spark and BADLY. Luckily, \u201cRobocop\u201d delivered a one-hitter-quitter that woke everybody up. Outside of the UFC White House and Hall of Fame announcements, Rodrigues stole the show.<\/p>\n After getting blasted out by Jared Cannonier 13 months ago, Rodrigues now has momentum with three straight victories. I think it\u2019s worth giving Rodrigues another opportunity at a top-ranked opponent for a sink-or-swim type test. Let\u2019s do Rodrigues vs. Anthony Hernandez and see what we have here. Worst case, Rodrigues is an action fighter in a division that continues to get headlines. Best case, we get another interesting contender at 185. To me, there\u2019s no losing here.<\/p>\n Martin: How about winners, and let\u2019s just say the UFC White House card and UFC 327 benefited the most because nobody wanted to talk about UFC 326 when it was over.<\/p>\n Most of the fights weren\u2019t all that compelling, and Oliveira ragdolling Holloway for 25 consecutive minutes definitely wasn\u2019t the main event anybody was anticipating. But the UFC White House card being announced gave fans something to talk about for hours on end, and that really dominated the conversation during and after UFC 326.<\/p>\n Also, UFC 327 might now become the most anticipated card of the year because everybody desperately wants to forget what unfolded on Saturday night. The event is headlined by Jiri Prochazka, and that man is basically incapable of putting on a non-exciting fight even if it comes to his own detriment. Plus, Carlos Ulberg is built to throw hands, and even if he tries to slow things down to a crawl as he did against Jan Blachowicz, there\u2019s almost no chance Prochazka allows that style to dictate the pace for all five rounds.<\/p>\n So buckle up for that one, it should be fun!<\/p>\n Meshew: Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Zhang Weili.<\/p>\n UFC 326 was mostly bad, with even the UFC White House announcement falling flat. But the one, unequivocal bright spot was the announcement that Jedrzejczyk and Zhang will be inducted into the Hall of Fame for their 2020 Fight of the Year from UFC 248.<\/p>\n Zhang vs. Jedrzejczyk is the greatest women\u2019s fight of all-time, and one of the five best fights in MMA history. And on a night when the fights were slogs, the big announcement underwhelmed, and the future of the sport began to look bleak, it was lovely to take a few minutes off to celebrate one of the greatest MMA memories ever.<\/p>\n 5. Who was the biggest loser at UFC 326?<\/p>\n Lee: Dana White\u2019s Contender Series prospects.<\/p>\n Or should I say, \u201cprospects?\u201d<\/p>\n At this point, fans have come to accept that at least half of every UFC card is comprised of Contender Series signings, and there\u2019s no questioning that the program has produced plenty of legitimate standouts, including UFC champions Sean O\u2019Malley and Jamahal Hill. But putting some of the more recent fresh blood on a numbered event was a recipe for disaster.<\/p>\n Luke Fernandez and Rafael Tobias both looked poor in losses, and the DWCS signings that beat them, Rodolfo Bellato and Diyar Nurgozhay, haven\u2019t been all that impressive either. Jesus Aguilar was completely outclassed by Sumudaerji, Donte Johnson didn\u2019t look ready for prime time, and even Raul Rosas found himself being booed despite a career-best win over Rob Font.<\/p>\n Props to Borralho (who feels far removed from his DWCS days) and Alberto Montes, but overall, the vibes around DWCS fighters have never been worse, and it doesn\u2019t look like it\u2019s going to get any better as long as the UFC machine needs to be fed.<\/p>\n Heck: This may be harsh, but I saw it on social media, and boy, did we see it in the live chats during the Watch Party and post-fight show. I\u2019m going with the fans because they were not happy on Saturday night.<\/p>\n Look, if the main event was the barnburner we all expected, I think most of the viewers would\u2019ve been happy. It wasn\u2019t, and they weren\u2019t. Almost an entire sold-out crowd booed Charles Oliveira. Oliveira delivered one of his greatest performances, and we can all be impressed by that, but that fight was not entertaining. It just wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n There were some highlights on Saturday, certainly, but this was a really tough card. The prelims were pretty brutal; outside of a couple of moments, the main card had the two big knockouts. But the Raul Rosas Jr. vs. Rob Font fight will not ever be re-watched, and the co-main event \u2014 although Jed and I had more fun watching that fight than anybody else on the planet \u2014 didn\u2019t seem to go over great. And then the main event ended up being what it was. Additionally, the entire card was outshone by the anticipation and eventual reveal of the White House card, which never could live up to expectations. The cherry on top, the pacing of this card was just plain awful. Of course, there was the blackout during the freaking main event!<\/p>\n The worst part about it is fans \u2014 the diehards who never miss a card, the casual viewers, and the newbies \u2014 are starting to lose faith in the product, and that is not good. This is what Jed and I saw from the fans all night long, and it\u2019s a bummer to see, honestly. Quite frankly, I don\u2019t blame them because they have a right to want to see the top organization make an effort to give them what they want, and right now, they don\u2019t feel like they\u2019re getting it. They have a big stretch coming up with UFC 327 being pretty solid on paper, UFC 328, which has no announced main event, UFC White House, and the International Fight Week card. Hopefully, things can turn around, but for the fans who pay to watch, Saturday wasn\u2019t it.<\/p>\n Martin: Cody Garbrandt may have won the fight, but his babymakers definitely lost the war.<\/p>\n The former UFC bantamweight champion has been surviving on life support for his past couple of fights because he just looks like he lost a step (or maybe three, if we\u2019re being honest). His performance at UFC 326 against Xiao Long isn\u2019t exactly going to inspire confidence that Garbrandt still has a few more highlight reel knockouts left in the tank, and after absorbing three brutal groin strikes that literally left him puking his guts up in the octagon, his boys James Westphal and Dr. Kenneth Noisewater<\/a> might need some serious time off to recover.<\/p>\n He got the win based on the two-point deduction levied on Xiao for the repeated low blows, but Garbrandt\u2019s twig and giggleberries absolutely took the biggest \u201cL\u201d on Saturday night.<\/p>\n Meshew: The Iowa Central Community College Boys.<\/p>\n For those who don\u2019t know, nearly 20 years ago, Jon Jones and Colby Covington roomed together at ICCC. And on Saturday, both men were reunited as the two men most visibly and obviously shut out of the thing they wanted most: UFC White House.<\/p>\n Last year, Jones retired from MMA, only to promptly un-retire after the White House card was announced, and lobby aggressively for that opportunity. Per reporting \u2014 though Dana White disagrees \u2014 he was in consideration to fight Alex Pereira, but apparently, the two sides couldn\u2019t come to an agreement, and now Jones won\u2019t get the grand, glorious send-off he wanted so bad.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Covington has spent the past decade building a gimmick centered entirely around his love for Donald Trump and AMERICA, making the White House card his great white whale. And on Saturday, he, too, found out that he\u2019ll be watching the biggest event of the year from home.<\/p>\n Tough week for the former Tritons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"UFC 326 is in the books, and we have a new BMF champion. 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