Oliveira vs Lopes is set as the main event of UFC 335, with Charles Oliveira making the first defense of his BMF title against Diego Lopes on Saturday, Dec. 12, at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The UFC announced the matchup during its UFC 332 broadcast, according to Heavy. It is billed as the final UFC event of 2026.
Oliveira vs Lopes: what is at stake
Oliveira took the BMF belt in March at UFC 326, beating Max Holloway by unanimous decision with a wrestling-heavy approach, as Yahoo Sports reported. That win followed his submission of Mateusz Gamrot in October 2025, and he arrives on a two-fight winning streak. He is 36 and carries a record of 37-11 with one no-contest.
The belt is honorary, but Oliveira vs Lopes gives it a first title defense. Heavy noted he would be the first fighter to successfully defend it. We covered the aftermath of his last fight when Conor McGregor teased a fight with Oliveira after UFC 326.
Lopes makes the jump to lightweight
Lopes, a 31-year-old Brazilian with a 28-8 record, is moving up from featherweight for this one. He challenged champion Alexander Volkanovski twice at 145 pounds and lost both times, including a decision at UFC 325. He then won his last fight at the UFC White House card in June, stopping Steve Garcia by TKO at UFC Freedom 250, as theScore noted.
That makes the fight a lightweight debut for Lopes, and he will face a veteran of the division in his first outing at 155 pounds. Oliveira vs Lopes will show how well the challenger’s power carries up a weight class.
Pereira, Pavlovich and the rest of the card
The co-main event is a five-round heavyweight bout between former two-division champion Alex Pereira and Sergei Pavlovich. Pereira moved up to heavyweight this year in pursuit of becoming the first three-division champion in UFC history, but he lost by TKO to Ciryl Gane at UFC Freedom 250. Pavlovich is ranked No. 2 at heavyweight and has won three straight, including a 39-second TKO of Tallison Teixeira in May.
Also on the card are a middleweight bout between Joe Pyfer and Bo Nickal and a flyweight fight between Brandon Moreno and Charles Johnson, per theScore. More bouts are expected to be added in the coming weeks. UFC events now air on Paramount+ under the promotion’s new media deal, which we explained in our look at the end of pay-per-view. Full details are on UFC.com.
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