UFC 326 live: Max Holloway vs Charles Oliveira start time, undercard, fight updates and results – UK Times

With two of the UFC’s longest-serving fan favourites set to throw down, Will Castle previews UFC 326 in the context of Dana White’s eye-watering acquisition of Conor Benn, which highlights once again how the company’s top fighters are undervalued:

Dana White made it abundantly clear what he thought of his UFC servants, and mixed martial arts in its entirety, when he stuffed a reported $15m into the pocket of Conor Benn. Obsessed with his Zuffa Boxing venture and the civil war that is breaking out on the other side of the combat world, the UFC suddenly feels like a secondary project to its own president.

Benn, a big name in boxing but not yet at that elite level of worldwide marketability, is allegedly being paid this eye-watering fee – a number which White neither confirmed nor denied when probed in an interview with Piers Morgan – for one co-main event bout against Regis Prograis, a former two-time super-lightweight champion who is long past his prime and is fighting outside of his natural weight category. These contract terms do not exist in the UFC, even for its biggest, best and most beloved stars.

Fighter pay has always been a pressing issue, as was notoriously harnessed by Jake Paul as ammunition against White, but the UFC head honcho’s undervaluing of his own employees has arguably never felt this pertinent. It’s led to said top stars speaking out to an extent that some haven’t dared to before.

In the thick of a brewing “Cold War” in boxing, this wasn’t played off as if circumstances weren’t a factor.

Charles Oliveira can see himself going back for the lightweight title one more time, presuming he can secure BMF gold at UFC 326.

“The first fight between us, let’s kill that one. He won that fight – that’s it,” Oliveira said, looking to put their injury-marred 2015 bout behind them.

“Two great fighters, two legends, two guys that put on a show. We’re going to put on a great show on Saturday.

“Get the BMF, then get the title at lightweight, maybe go back to 145 – I don’t know. We need some time to think this through, and everything else. One step at a time. Maybe there’s a possibility of it.”

Max Holloway has taken issue with a new pre-fight duty for main-event competitors: the somewhat over-produced face-off used for Paramount’s promo.

“We’ve got to do that face-off, that Paramount face-off with each other now, which is absolutely ridiculous,” Holloway said.

“I don’t know why I wanna be facing off with this guy three or four times before the actual fight.”

The UFC is home to some of the best mixed martial artists on the planet, so it’s no surprise that fans often debate how the elite fighters compare to one another – would fare against each other.

Alongside its rankings for each weight class, the UFC has its pound-for-pound list, and below, The Independent has constructed its own pound-for-pound top 10 for men’s UFC fighters.

Going into UFC 326, here’s how our rankings shape up:

On the topic of the White House card…

Last night’s weigh-ins brought the revelation that a fight for the event – and by the looks if things, a big fight – has fallen through.

MMA journalist Mike Bohn caught the moment the UFC’s top brass were informed by Hunter Campbell that things had crumbled. Dejected is one way to put it.

“We’ve been working on this non-stop,” Dana White said on Ninadrama’s stream. “One of the fights literally just fell out when I walked in here. I think Hunter killed himself.”

This summer, the UFC plans to hold an unprecedented show at the White House, which could feature numerous huge fights on the South Lawn – as part of a series of events to commemorate the United States’ 250th anniversary.

And strong rumours suggest the long-awaited fightcard announcement could be TONIGHT, with Dana White revealing matchmaking has finished.

With that, here are 10 fighters The Independent thinks could feature on the card:

“He is my heavyweight champion,” he said on Piers Morgan Uncensored. “The company has talked to him. I haven’t talked to him. Tom and I obviously need to talk.

“Tom came out recently, his dad too, they felt like I had s*** on them in the way that I spoke about his eye injury, which was absolutely, positively not the case.

“Tom Aspinall is a guy that I respect. He’s great to work with. Never once did I question his injury or speak negatively about him. I said: ‘I think he is OK, I think he is going to be good.’ And they came out and said: ‘No, that’s not the case.’

“He said: ‘I haven’t talked to Dana, I don’t know why he would say that.’ But obviously my medical team is talking to him. That was what I thought.

“They thought I had knocked him in some way which I absolutely, positively have not, and would not. I like him very much and respect him. I’ve never had a problem with Tom Aspinall.”

A late fight cancellation to bring you from last

Gaston Bolanos’s featherweight fight with Jeong Yeong Lee has been scrapped after Lee no-showed the weigh-ins due to weight management issues.

It’s why the early prelims have now been moved up to a 10:30pm GMT start rather than 10pm GMT.