BMF Is Back: Charles Oliveira vs. Diego Lopes Headlines a Stacked UFC 335 in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS — The UFC closed its 2026 schedule the way it likes to: all at once. During Saturday's UFC 332 broadcast from Salt Lake City, the promotion peeled back the curtain on UFC 335 — the final card of the year, set for December 12 at T-Mobile Arena — and it is a monster. Charles Oliveira will defend the BMF title against Diego Lopes in the main event. Alex Pereira continues his heavyweight experiment against Sergei Pavlovich in the co-main. And Bo Nickal finally gets the fight that tells us exactly who he is, against No. 4 middleweight Joe Pyfer. One card, three storylines that will dominate the winter.

The BMF belt gets a worthy fight

Start with the obvious: Oliveira vs. Lopes is the best possible use of the BMF belt. This is a title that only works when it belongs to fighters people actually believe in, and "do Bronx" might be the most beloved fighter of his generation. Charles Oliveira — 36 years old, 37-11 with a 25-11 UFC record — took the belt from Max Holloway by unanimous decision back in March at UFC 326, avenging their first meeting. He is the UFC's all-time leader in finishes, submissions, and bonuses. Nobody in the building on December 12 will need the concept explained to them: the two most violent Brazilians in the sport, five rounds, lightweight.

And Lopes earned this the hard way. The 31-year-old came up short in two featherweight title shots against Alexander Volkanovski — the second one a one-sided decision loss in January — and the standard script says a guy in that spot either fades or fights scared. Lopes did neither. He answered with a second-round TKO of Steve Garcia at UFC Freedom 250 in June, stayed patient, and now gets his first crack at a UFC belt of any kind by moving up to 155. His featherweight speed and his finishing instincts against Oliveira's kill-or-be-killed style is a genuinely compelling stylistic question, and it's the kind of fight that sells itself the moment the poster goes up.

There's weight to this beyond the bracket, too. Oliveira was supposed to rematch Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 331 in September; he had to withdraw after the death of his friend and teammate Allan Nascimento. He'll be fighting with that grief fresh. If you think that makes him dangerous, you're not wrong.

Pereira's heavyweight gamble continues

The co-main event might be the highest-stakes five rounds on the card. Alex Pereira, 39, former middleweight and light heavyweight champion, is chasing history that nobody has ever touched: a title in three UFC weight classes. The dream took a hit in June, when Ciryl Gane stopped him in the second round of an interim heavyweight title fight at UFC Freedom 250 — the first loss of Pereira's heavyweight move and a cold reminder that 265 pounds is a different planet from 205.

The choice of comeback opponent tells you everything about how the UFC views him: Sergei Pavlovich, 34, is the No. 2-ranked heavyweight in the world and rides a three-fight winning streak into this one, most recently needing all of 39 seconds to knock out Tallison Teixeira at UFC Macau in May. Pavlovich doesn't do careful. He does concussive. This is Pereira back in the fire against a man whose entire game is built to test exactly the chin questions June raised. Dana White confirmed it on Nina Drama's livestream during UFC 332: five rounds, co-main event, T-Mobile Arena. If Pereira wins, the three-division dream is back on life support. If he loses, it's over.

Nickal gets the real test

Then there's the middleweight fight that the purists will be watching hardest. Joe Pyfer, 30 and ranked No. 4, has won four straight since his lone UFC loss — and his last one was a statement: a second-round stoppage of former champion Israel Adesanya at UFC Seattle in March. Pyfer is not a prospect anymore. He's a contender with real momentum and real confidence, and he gets the fight he's been circling for.

Because standing across from him is Bo Nickal, 30, ranked No. 12, and everybody knows what this fight is: the answer. Nickal's wrestling pedigree is beyond question, and he's 9-1 with a first-round TKO of Kyle Daukaus at UFC Freedom 250 in June — his second straight win. But Pyfer is the first opponent who brings elite recent form, real power, and zero fear of the mat. Styles make fights, and this one is engineered to reveal. Nickal wins, and the middleweight title conversation gets a new name. Pyfer wins, and he keeps the belt trajectory he's been building all year.

Vegas closes the year

Rounding out the announced card: former flyweight champion Brandon Moreno vs. Charles Johnson — Moreno still very much in the title picture at 125. The card streams on Paramount+, the UFC's new broadcast home, and the promotion made clear during the announcement that more matchups are coming. December year-end cards in Las Vegas have a way of delivering, and UFC 335 — Oliveira vs. Lopes for the BMF belt, Pereira vs. Pavlovich with the heavyweight division hanging in the balance, and a middleweight eliminator hiding in plain sight — is shaping up as the right way to close the book on 2026.

The winter starts here.