Charles Oliveira doesn't want anyone treating his BMF belt like a prize for pure violence, and he made that clear ahead of his UFC 335 headliner against Diego Lopes.

Oliveira said if the belt is about going in there and just beating each other up, then it's not for him. 'If the belt is about going there and breaking each other up, here's the belt, take it somewhere else,' he said.

The fight carries extra weight given the career paths involved. Both men are Brazilian, both built their names with heavy hands and sharp jiu-jitsu, and both made the climb up from featherweight to lightweight. Oliveira has pointed to experience as his trump card in the matchup, a fair claim given Max Holloway is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Charles Oliveira back in March. That result has him sitting at number three in the lightweight rankings.

Lopes, meanwhile, is riding his own momentum.

Books have Oliveira as the favorite at minus 143, with Lopes getting plus 126 as the underdog. Our own model leans toward Oliveira too, giving him a 61 percent chance against Lopes' 39, though it's calling the fight close rather than a lock. Oliveira's Elo sits at 1507 across seven tracked bouts, while Lopes actually rates higher at 1577 over ten fights, a gap that hints at just how live this underdog number really is.

UFC 335 lands on December 12, and however it plays out, Oliveira clearly wants the BMF name attached to something more than a brawl.