As Charles Oliveira prepares to face Max Holloway in the UFC 326 main event on Saturday, the former lightweight champion clarified his real motivation for a potential fight with Conor McGregor. The Brazilian says the bout would be purely financial.
“Being truthful, I’ve always been [honest about this] and I will again, to fight Conor it would be for the money,” Oliveira said during UFC 326 media day. “That’s it. Simply that.”
Oliveira is focused on winning the symbolic BMF title from Holloway. Their fight acts as a rematch of a 2015 encounter that ended abruptly due to Oliveira suffering a freak injury in under two minutes of the opening round. While many fighters might consider such a loss unfair, Oliveira doesn’t dispute Holloway’s previous victory.
“The first fight between us, let’s kill that one. That’s it. He won that fight,” Oliveira said. “That’s it. Two great fighters, two legends, two guys that put on a show. We’re going to put on a great show on Saturday.”
The Value of the BMF Title
Even though the BMF belt was originally created for a single matchup between Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz, Oliveira respects the championship. UFC President Dana White has previously downplayed the title, but Oliveira sees the opportunity as significant, especially since no Brazilian fighter has yet held it.
“For sure this is a title,” Oliveira said. “This is a belt. The opportunity to take it down to Brazil, something that has never been done before by a Brazilian athlete. When I talk about legacy and getting things, the records and everything else, that’s what I’m talking about.”
He continued, “I think each and every fighter that actually has held it has given its importance. They’ve had their ways and now Max has found a way to give it even more importance to a belt like that.”
Charles Oliveira would fight Conor McGregor “for the MONEY” wants BMF title for legacy
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Looking Ahead to McGregor
While a Conor McGregor fight would be lucrative, Oliveira’s main focus remains on UFC 326 and potentially returning to the undisputed lightweight title picture or facing Ilia Topuria in the future. If the Irish superstar does come back, Oliveira would consider the matchup mainly as a high-profile payday.
Oliveira also hopes that the UFC will finally hold a stadium event in Brazil, possibly featuring himself and stars like Alex Pereira. He believes Brazilian fans deserve a large-scale live show.
“I’ve said this before and I said it after my last fight — Brazil deserves it,” Oliveira said. “This is the time for us to do it. This is the time to make it happen. To make it in a stadium. Brazil deserves that. The Brazilian people deserve that. A stadium, closed, put an octagon in the middle and we’re going to do our job, which is to fill that stadium up to capacity. Listen, Dana [White], Hunter [Campbell], Sean [Shelby], everybody get it together. The Brazilian people deserve this and we’re going to make it beautiful.”
Before any future plans take shape, Oliveira must first step into the cage against Holloway at UFC 326.
