Outside Source
Oliveira faced Holloway for the first time in a featherweight tilt in 2015. Holloway folded Oliveira with a couple of body shots in the opening round, forcing the referee to step in. Oliveira was carried out with his neck braced due to an esophagus injury.
Oliveira is now scheduled to challenge Holloway for the BMF title in a lightweight matchup in the main event at UFC 326 on March 7 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Oliveira says he has evolved into a completely different fighter since his first fight against Holloway. While Oliveira knows that Holloway has grown as well, “Do Bronx” believes he is more well-rounded than he was in their first fight.
‘A Lion Among Lions’
“From that last fight to this one, I evolved a lot,” Oliveira said on YouTube. “In that fight, I entered with an injury. It’s a completely different Charles. I know he’s evolved, he’s grown, he’s the BMF champion but today’s Charles is a completely different Charles. At the time, I was just Charles of jiu-jitsu. Today, I’m Charles of MMA. I’m a complete guy. At that time, I was just a boy. Today, I’m a lion among lions, so it’s completely different, one fight from the other.”
Holloway (27-8) went on to win the title soon after his first clash against Oliveira (36-11). “Blessed” defended the title thrice before losing it to Alexander Volkanovski and moved up to lightweight after multiple failed bids to reclaim the belt. Meanwhile, Oliveira won the lightweight title in 2021 and defended it once before losing the belt on the scale after missing weight ahead of a fight with Justin Gathje.
Charles Oliveira recalls his first fight with Max Holloway: 🦁
“At that time, I was just a boy. Today, I’m a lion among lions.”
“From that last fight to this one, I evolved a lot. In that fight, I entered with an injury. It’s a completely different Charles. I know he’s evolved,… pic.twitter.com/OFIRVe6rv5
— Red Corner MMA (@RedCorner_MMA) February 10, 2026
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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