Charles Oliveira wants Max Holloway next and the current ‘BMF’ champion has no intention of turning down a fight.
Following a dominant submission victory over Mateusz Gamlot in the main event of UFC Rio, Oliveira called for a fight with Holloway in hopes of adding the BMF Championship to his resume. Holloway initially responded with a “one more thing” meme and appeared to add Oliveira’s name to the long list of calls he received, but he ultimately said “I’m going to do the Bronx” during the Kick livestream.
“Charles’ performance? I didn’t see it,” Holloway said. “I got a clip of him calling out to me, and the only way to let him know is another way. Let’s go.”
“No, I’m not going to Rio. Fight in Las Vegas or something. We’ll fight on my terms. We’ll fight on my terms, brother. We went to Rio and did it at ‘King of Rio.’ Now it’s my turn to speak. ”
The title “King of Rio” refers to Holloway, who went to Brazil and defeated Jose Aldo in 2017 to become the featherweight champion. In the end, Holloway defeated Aldo for the second time in a row in a rematch six months later.
“If you fight the king of Rio somewhere, you’re going to take that village, right?” Holloway said. “You guys might be watching The King of Rio. I’m just saying. Check your receipt.”
Holloway also talked about his timeline for returning to action while nursing a lingering injury following his win over Dustin Poirier in July.
“The March fight is getting pretty close,” Holloway said. “It’s very likely. It’s pretty close, but it’s certainly very likely.”
Oliveira, for his part, had no problem accommodating Holloway’s request to fight somewhere other than Brazil and is happy with the timing. The bout is actually a rematch of Holloway’s defeat of Oliveira in 2015, when the Brazilian suffered a bizarre injury that forced him to continue less than two minutes into the opener.
“His conditions are the same as in the UFC,” Oliveira said in the UFC Rio post-fight press conference. “It could be at his house. It doesn’t have to be Brazil, it could be anywhere in the world. (March) is perfect, it’s a perfect fight. It would be great to see it in Hawaii.”
Oliveira seems fine with going to Hawaii for the fight, but Holloway was finally bombarded with questions about getting a UFC card in his home state and sadly dismissed the idea.
“Hawaii is by no means free of conflict,” Holloway said. “We have to get over it. There’s zero chance that Hawaii will fight with me on this, guys. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, but that’s the reality. That’s the honest truth.”
“We don’t have a stadium to host it. Even if they did, they have to start building now. It’s going to take years and years and there’s no point if something goes wrong. So we’re ready.”
It remains to be seen whether Oliveira will be Holloway’s next opponent, but he isn’t opposed to the matchup.
More than anything, Holloway worries about being busy again in 2025 with just one game. This is another reason why he is reluctant to qualify for the highly anticipated UFC White House card scheduled for June 14, 2026.
“The White House card is really far away,” Holloway said. “It’s like a year, guys. I don’t know if I want to wait that long, but we’ll see what happens.
“I’m not saying never. It’s very far away. If I did that fight, I would be out of competition for almost a year. If that fight were to be on the White House card.”