After a lot of speculation, the UFC put an end to the doubts surrounding Conor McGregor’s return opponent by announcing Max Holloway as the Irishman’s adversary for UFC 329 on July 11. While the matchup made sense given the storyline that the pair first collided thirteen years ago, a BMF title fight against Charles Oliveira also remained a viable option for the UFC to pursue. Well, McGregor competing for the symbolic belt would have undoubtedly raised the stakes even higher for his comeback. Still, the Irishman got matched up with ‘Blessed’ that too at welterweight, effectively snubbing Oliveira in the process. Because of this, the Brazilian has now implied that McGregor intentionally chose the easiest route in his return to the Octagon. 

“He actually asked for the fight to be three rounds, and he picked the opponent,” Oliveira told Action Network. “Because, in reality, everyone knows that the fight was supposed to be against me, but he chose the opponent. That’s part of the game. You’ve got to choose what you think is best for you.”   

For Oliveira, a clash against Conor McGregor seemed inevitable after he beat Max Holloway at UFC 326 to capture the BMF belt. The Brazilian legend also exchanged words with the Irishman online, planting the seeds for a potential grudge match. However, the former lightweight champion implied that McGregor had a say in the matchmaking process and ultimately chose Holloway because Oliveira believes he’s a much tougher matchup for the Irishman.

In this case, ‘Do Bronxs’ perception might stem from the fact that he dominated Holloway, who is primarily a striker, with his grappling. And as such, McGregor, who is also known for his striking, may not have wanted to deal with that threat in his comeback bout, especially after a five-year hiatus. But the actual negotiations on McGregor’s end turned out very differently from what many assumed. The Irishman recently revealed in an interview with Ariel Helwani that the UFC presented Max Holloway as an option for the fight, and Oliveira wasn’t even part of the discussion because of how the BMF title picture unfolded.

According to the former two-division champion, he didn’t get to choose his opponent and simply said “yes” to whatever the UFC presented as long as the fight was at welterweight. But would he have accepted a fight against Oliveira at 155 lbs? Five years ago, McGregor entered the Octagon against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 wearing a Brazilian mouthguard. At the time, he planned to call out Charles Oliveira, who was the then-lightweight champion.

With that history, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that McGregor would’ve at least been interested in facing Oliveira had the UFC presented the option to him. But since McGregor was reluctant to accept a fight at 155 lbs, and the UFC never sought out the Brazilian’s opinion about moving up to welterweight, the fight never came to fruition.

Regardless, the Irishman is now focused on Max Holloway, which is no less of a challenge. The Hawaiian is one of the most active fighters in the UFC, and he’ll also carry serious power at 170 lbs, making him a dangerous opponent.

Even though Oliveira probably regrets missing out on the Conor McGregor payday in the Irishman’s comeback fight, the former lightweight champion admitted that the matchup itself would’ve definitely been an interesting one. 

Charles Oliveira predicts Conor McGregor vs Max Holloway   

As per the odds, Conor McGregor opened as a sizeable underdog against Max Holloway. Outlets like BetOnline have the Irishman listed as a +350 underdog, while the Hawaiian sits as a -450 favorite. Though the oddsmakers heavily favor Holloway in the showdown, Charles Oliveira believes the first round will determine how the fight unfolds.

“Honestly, I think the first round will tell us a lot,” Oliveira said in the same interview. “Max is a guy who’s been going five rounds in his recent fights. He handles five rounds very well. Conor has been inactive for a long time… If he doesn’t get the knockout or put on a very dominant performance in the first round, then the later rounds tend to favor Max Holloway because of his speed and because he won’t need to cut weight.

“But, as I always say, Conor is one of the guys who made history and helped raise the profile of the sport. The arena is going to be packed. It’s going to be magical.”

Well, Oliveira does make a valid point here. Conor McGregor usually stays sharp during the opening rounds until fatigue starts to set in. We’ve seen that happen more than once, particularly in his fights against Nate Diaz. On the other hand, Max Holloway has never had a problem going full five rounds and often becomes more dangerous as the fight progresses. In that sense, McGregor would likely need to look for an early knockout, despite Holloway losing the decision last time around when they fought in 2013.

With July 11 drawing closer, we’ll finally see how McGregor performs after five years away from competition. But if he manages to defeat Holloway, a long-discussed showdown against Charles Oliveira could suddenly become a reality.