In just about a month, there will be three UFC Lightweight champions (seriously). There is, of course, the undisputed kingpin Ilia Topuria. The undefeated knockout artist was shockingly good at Featherweight, where he violently stopped both Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway in the midst of a meteoric rise. Then, he suddenly dropped his belt, moved […]
In just about a month, there will be three UFC Lightweight champions (seriously).
There is, of course, the undisputed kingpin Ilia Topuria. The undefeated knockout artist was shockingly good at Featherweight, where he violently stopped both Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway in the midst of a meteoric rise. Then, he suddenly dropped his belt, moved to 155 pounds, and flattened Charles Oliveira to capture a second world title. Unfortunately, Topuria is sidelined by personal issues and will not return until spring 2026 at the earliest.
… which brings us to the second Lightweight belt, a recently announced interim title fight between Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett. Gaethje, a former interim champion already, most recently defeated Rafael Fiziev, whereas Pimblett is still unbeaten inside the Octagon entirely with wins over the likes of Michael Chandler and Bobby Green.
Finally, there’s Max Holloway. The “Blessed” former Featherweight champion has settled comfortably into the Lightweight division, defeating both Gaethje and Dustin Poirier in a pair of BMF title bouts. He has his eyes set on a Topuria rematch at 155 pounds and is very much in the title hunt.
Holloway will face Oliveira next in another BMF collision, and “Do Bronx” believes the winner could supersede the interim titleholder. He argues that he’s a bigger star than either man involved in the interim title fight, which could be the deciding factor in the “game” of UFC title shots.
“The UFC is a game,” Oliveira told AgFight. “You have to learn how to play it, otherwise you get left behind.”
He continued, “We have two guys fighting for the [interim] belt in January. And then, two months later, I’m fighting for the BMF belt. With all due respect, I sell much more than the two who are going to fight for the [interim] title. I have much more charisma than the two who are going to fight for the [interim] title. Whether you like it or not, I’m already stepping in strong on the edge of that conversation.
“For me, Arman [Tsarukyan] was the guy who should be fighting for the belt, interim or undisputed. I don’t know why they didn’t put him there, so whether people like it or not, I think I sell way more than Arman … I’m going to put on a great fight and I’m going to win this fight. And if it’s a great fight and I win, I think I’ll burst the bubble and I’ll be next in line for the title again.”
Oliveira has already managed to rebound since losing to Topuria, as he submitted Mateusz Gamrot at UFC Rio (watch here). While a win over Max Holloway and a BMF belt would definitely be huge for the Brazilian, it would also be a tough sell for the promotion to book him against Topuria again so quickly after the first fight. Still, “Do Bronx” clearly knows how the machine runs, and he could be in an undisputed title fight sooner than expected.
Maybe he can teach Arman Tsarukyan how to play the game.
Category: General Sports
