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

First up in the televised prelims, we’ve got a flyweight bout between Cody Durden and Nyamjargal Tumendemberel.

The fighters are out and Bruce Buffer is loosening his lungs…

We have three results to run down from the early prelims, with the night kicking off with a first-round finish!

Sumudaerji def. Jesus Aguilar via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Diyar Nurgozhay def. Rafael Tobias via uannimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

Rodolfo Bellato def. Luke Fernandez via first-round knockout (punches, 2:42)

We are just about ready to join the action with the UFC 326 prelims set to kick-off! First up, it’s Cody Durden against Nyamjargal Tumendemberel at flyweight.

Stay tuned for round-by-round updates from every fight!

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.”