UFC 326: Holloway vs. Oliveira 2 Predictions

UFC 326: Holloway vs. Oliveira 2 takes place on Sunday (AEDT) at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. – and we’ve got our UFC predictions for all the fights below, and you can place your bets with the best betting sites Australia has to offer!

UFC 326 Predictions

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Max Holloway vs. Charles Oliveira Prediction

Max Holloway beat Dustin Poirier in his 1st defense of the symbolic ‘BMF’ title last year and now headlines UFC 326 against Charles Oliveira, who submitted Mateusz Gamrot back in October.

The 34-year-old Holloway has been one of the UFC’s best strikers for years thanks to his relentless, clinical boxing combinations to the head and body, excellent distance management, strong fight IQ and impressive durability. He’s not the hardest one-punch hitter around and has never really been one for fast finishes, but his ability to drown opponents with sustained, accurate offense over time has helped him to then finish other legendarily tough competitors like Justin Gaethje, The Korean Zombie and Jose Aldo, and has also been a proven route to winning on the scorecards too. Holloway also possesses excellent takedown defense to help keep his fights upright, while his only submission loss came in his first ever UFC fight 14 years ago.

Like Holloway, the 36-year-old Oliveira is another firm fan favorite who has been extremely consistent in providing thrilling fights over the years. And the former lightweight champ has the stats to prove it, holding the UFC record for most finishes in UFC history (21), most submission wins (17) and most post-fight bonuses (21). Oliveira has a formidable offensive arsenal at his disposal, particularly on the mat where he’s an absolute assassin, constantly hunting for the finish and showing a willingness to slickly and creatively chain together submission attempts. However, Oliveira is also a threat on the feet with his muay thai striking, which utilizes all eight limbs to good effect. That enables him to stay competitive and create opportunities to work for a takedown or scrambling opportunity. Oliveira’s offensively minded approach does leave him open to being hit though, and as well as been stopped several times during his UFC career, he’s also been rocked on numerous occasions. And despite being the most dangerous grappler in the sport, he has also been submitted four times.

These two did fight once before over 10 years ago, which unfortunately ended swiftly due to a freak injury to Oliveira. As such it’s great to see this one being ran back all these years later as it’s a terrific match-up between two greats of the sport. There can only be one winner though, and I have to lean towards Holloway here as his trusty takedown defense will be a major factor that forces Oliveira into a stand-up battle, where his superior striking and stronger chin will lead him to a third round TKO victory.

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Caio Borralho vs. Reiner de Ridder Prediction

Caio Borralho’s seven-fight winning streak in the UFC ended with a decision loss to Nassourdine Imavov in September. Now he fights Reiner de Ridder, who is in a similar spot, after his 4-0 start to life in the Octagon ended with a TKO loss to Brendan Allen in October.

The 33-year-old Borralho will have been disappointed to clearly come off second-best against Imavov last time out given that he’d been in fine form before that in the Octagon, and had only lost once in his previous 19 fights. The match-up showed that while Borralho is a very good athlete with fast movement and an ability to be explosive with single strikes, he lacks the technical nous and volume to get the better of more seasoned strikers. Crucially Imavov was also able to stuff the Brazilian’s takedowns, which is no easy task as Borralho’s strong wrestling remains a big asset, along with his well-versed grappling. When he is able to get opponents down, Borralho does a good job of patiently controlling the action on top, while he can also look for submission finishes.

The 35-year-old de Ridder is a former two-division ONE FC champion who burst onto the UFC scene with four big wins in less than a year. A big 185lb’er, de Ridder is best known for his skilled technical grappling, showing real patience and composure on the mat, as well as dangerous finishing ability, with 13 submission wins on his record. Surprisingly, while his striking was seen as just a way to set up his very capable takedown ability, RdR has actually been willing to engage on the feet more than anticipated in the UFC. He’s not the most natural or technical striker, tending to use clunky kickboxing fundamentals, but he does deploy effective knee strikes. Cardio was a glaring issue for de Ridder last time out though, and he did gas badly once back in the ONE FC days too, so fixing that is a priority for him here.

While Borralho’s striking game fell short against Imavov, it figures to match up better against the slower, less technical and less mobile de Ridder, while the Brazilian’s stronger wrestling will enable him to stop his opponent from getting the fight to the mat. With Barralho also having better conditioning I’ll take him to win on the scorecards here.

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Rob Font vs. Raul Rosas Jr Prediction

Rob Font is coming off a loss as he now prepares to fight the 21-year-old Raul Rosas Jr, who is on a four-fight winning streak.

The last few years have been quite turbulent for Font. At the end of 2023 he was in a tough spot after losing four of his last five fights, but he did well to turn that back around with victories over Kyler Phillips and Jean Matsumoto in 2024 and 2025. However, another talented up-and-comer David Martinez beat him last September and now the 38-year-old is playing gatekeeper to another fresh talent in Rosas Jr, who is 17 years his junior. Font is primarily a boxer whose style leans heavily on his trusty jab that’s served him well over the years. As such he relies more on speed, volume and pressure rather than big one-punch power to get the job done, while he can throw in the occasional takedown too. At this stage in his career Font can be hurt, but he’s still never been finished, and while his takedown defense isn’t convincing he has only been submitted once in 31 fights.

Contender Series recruit Rosas Jr signed his UFC contract when he was still just 17-years-old. And despite question marks about whether this was too much, too soon for him, he’s managed to go 5-1 since then, albeit not against the stiffest opposition. Now 21, Rosas Jr has always had a good grappling and solid wrestling base to build from, and benefits from being naturally physically strong too. He’s still learning on the job in other aspects though, trying to smooth out his striking, as well as looking to pace himself better and becoming more strategic rather than just being fuelled by youthful exuberance. In most aspects he does appear to be moving in the right direction, but this is a big step up in competition for him that’ll show just how far he’s come.

A win on Saturday night could see Rosas Jr set foot in the UFC rankings for the first time, so this is a major moment for him. At 21 he’s still developing from fight-to-fight, which bodes well for him, and with Font’s takedown defense being a weak point it does give the younger man a chance to do what he does best by using his stronger ground game to control the fight and win by decision.

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Drew Dober vs. Michael Johnson Prediction

Drew Dober comes in off a TKO victory to fight another veteran in Michael Johnson, who is having a late career resurgence after stringing together three wins.

The 37-year-old Dober’s win back in October was much needed as things were going badly for him in the two years prior to that, suffering four losses in five fights. Worryingly, three of those defeats were by TKO, which is not a good sign for a fighter who has relied on his excellent durability as his main line of defense in his many stand-up battles over the years. When his chin has held out Dober’s ability to come out in a slug-fest has been impressive though, with 15 career finishes via strikes, including in each of his last 8 UFC wins. However, aside from his heavy-handed striking, Dober doesn’t offer much of a threat on the mat, has suspect takedown defense and has been submitted four times in the Octagon.

The 39-year-old Johnson is a true elder statesman in the UFC at this point, having been on-board since winning TUF Season 12 all the way back in 2010, and is currently tied at 3rd for most fights in UFC lightweight history. It’s been a bumpy ride though as his overall record is just 16-15, while just a few years ago he was in the midst of a dire run that saw him lose six out of eight fights. Johnson is a capable fighter though, as he’s proven by getting back on track now. He’s got assured boxing that’s aided by fast hands, notable power, good movement and solid takedown defense. However, while he’s aging relatively well physically, Johnson has always been prone to lapses of judgement in his fights, has shaky submission defense that accounts for nine of his career defeats, and inevitably is not as durable as he once was.

With two flawed veterans at the tail-end of their careers it feels like anything could happen here. However, Johnson has the technical striking advantage, is quicker and possesses better footwork, so I’ll lean towards him steering clear of Dober’s power punches to win by decision.

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Gregory Rodrigues vs. Brunno Ferreira Prediction

Gregory ‘Robocop’ Rodrigues comes in off back-to-back victories to fight Brunno ‘The Hulk’ Ferreira, who is on a three-fight winning streak.

The 34-year-old Rodrigues has a strong foundation in BJJ, holding a black belt and having won numerous tournaments in the past, while also having a background in wrestling too. However, you often wouldn’t know it when he fights as Rodrigues loves to engage in a striking battle instead. Rodrigues has respectable boxing technique that’s improved over time and he has demonstrated his heavy hands, with six of his nine victories in the UFC having come via strikes. He’s always eager to apply pressure, but the downside is that he’s too hittable at times, and while he’s generally quite durable, he has been stopped by strikes three times in the Octagon. Rodrigues was a bit more tactical last time out against Kopylov though, but it still feels like he could do a better job of blending ground work in with his striking.

The 33-year-old Ferreira actually already fought Rodriguez in his short-notice UFC debut back in 2023, and made an immediate impact by KO’ing him in the first round. It was a back-and-forth fight though up to the fight-ending blow, which showed off ‘The Hulk’s’ considerable stopping power. As you’d expect given his nickname, Ferreira is shredded physically and he has an aggressive striking style that sees him throw his punches and kicks with full power rather than polished technique. He can also use his judo for takedowns though and is a threat via submissions as well as strikes on the mat. Wherever the fight goes Ferreira is always looking for a finish, and indeed a win over a jaded Marvin Vettori last time out was the first time he’s gone to the scorecards in his 17-fight career.

Rodrigues is the better technical fighter on the feet and on the mat here, but his defensive lapses means there’s a real chance Ferreira could serve up another one-punch KO against him here. Still, I’m leaning towards ‘Robocop’ to fight with a bit more care this time around and outpoint ‘The Hulk’ on the scorecards.

UFC 326 Prelims

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(Predicted winners in bold)

Cody Garbrandt vs Xiao Long
Donte Johnson vs Dusko Todorovic
Ricky Turcios vs Alberto Montes
Cody Durden vs Nyamjargal Tumendemberel
Sumudaerji vs Jesus Aguilar
JooSang Yoo vs Gaston Bolanos
Luke Fernandez vs Rodolfo Bellato
Rafael Tobias vs Diyar Nurgozhay