Charles Oliveira will defend the BMF title against Diego Lopes in the main event of UFC 335 on Dec. 12 in Las Vegas, the promotion’s last numbered card of 2026. Sports Illustrated and Bodyslam.net both reported the booking, and the two Brazilians have already started talking about it with MMA Fighting. Alex Pereira vs. Sergei Pavlovich is set for the co-main slot, according to Yahoo Sports’ power rankings.
Oliveira won the BMF belt in March with a dominant performance over Max Holloway. The way he did it drew complaints, though. He leaned on his grappling, and several fighters, a chunk of fans and UFC CEO Dana White all criticized the approach. Lopes told MMA Fighting he thinks Oliveira, who holds the record for most bonuses in UFC history, might come out overaggressive to make up for that night. He’s openly rooting for it.
“I hope he does come in with that mindset, because that’s exactly what I want. I want to get in there and throw down. Let’s see who goes down first,” Lopes said.
Lopes has collected seven bonuses in 10 trips to the Octagon, and he’s shared the cage with Alexander Volkanovski, Movsar Evloev, Jean Silva and Brian Ortega. He still called Oliveira the toughest matchup of his career, pointing to his ability to finish from the top and from his back. Lopes also said he isn’t planning to spend rounds stalling on the bottom. “I have no problem being on my back on the ground,” he said.
This will be his lightweight debut. Lopes said the first 155-pound offer came after he knocked out Steve Garcia at UFC White House in June. The original plan was Dan Hooker at UFC Paris, until Salahdine Parnasse signed and took that fight. The UFC then considered Lopes vs. Benoit Saint Denis for UFC 344 at Madison Square Garden. After Mauricio Ruffy stepped in against Arman Tsarukyan in September, the call came for Oliveira. Lopes said he now walks around 180 pounds, 15 more than his usual weight two months out from a featherweight cut, and he hasn’t ruled out a return to 145 down the line.
The lightweight title picture is the other half of this story. Justin Gaethje unified the belts by stopping Ilia Topuria at the White House in June, has said he won’t fight again this year and has floated retiring as champion. Tsarukyan, who beat Oliveira by split decision in 2024, just knocked out Ruffy in the first round. Oliveira told MMA Fighting he expects to jump the line anyway, citing his drawing power and his 2022 submission of Gaethje.
“I think I sell a lot more than Arman. So I could move ahead of Arman,” Oliveira said. He added that a win would put him next in line “regardless of whether Gaethje comes back or not.”
My take: the people who called the Holloway fight boring watched the scoreboard and missed the grappling. Oliveira on top is a submission threat every second, and he doesn’t need to change a thing for this one. Lopes is brave on the mat and genuinely dangerous standing, and I respect that he’s building into 155 instead of draining himself down to 145. But being comfortable on your back against Oliveira is how people end up tapping. I’m taking Oliveira by submission inside two rounds on Dec. 12.
