Beneil Dariush won’t wait around for a UFC title shot.
Dariush (22-4-1 MMA, 16-4-1 UFC) made it eight consecutive wins when he defeated Mateusz Gamrot by unanimous decision at UFC 280. Although he thinks he’s deserving of a shot at newly crowned lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, he knows it likely won’t happen.
After submitting Charles Oliveira that same night, Makhachev called over UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski for a faceoff in the octagon. So if Volkanovski is next, Dariush sees three viable options for him.
“I guess right now my options are the winner of Dustin Poirier (and Michael Chandler), Charles (Oliveira), or (Rafael) Fiziev,” Dariush said on Morning Kombat. “Those are the three options. … Those are great fights, so let’s just figure this out and move forward.”
Dariush was scheduled to face Oliveira in October 2020, but the bout was scrapped after Oliveira withdrew due to undisclosed reasons. He was also booked to face Makhachev in February, before an ankle injury forced him to pull out.
Dustin Poirier and Michael Chandler both recently lost title fights to Oliveira, and the streaking Rafael Fiziev has been eyeing former title challenger Justin Gaethje, who’s currently sidelined after undergoing nose surgery. Regardless of who’s next for Dariush, he hopes to make a relatively quick turnaround.
“I don’t want to sit out for another eight months, nine months, a year-and-a-half,” Dariush added. “I love fighting. I just want to fight. You’re not gonna be able to dangle the belt in front of me. The belt doesn’t make me feel special. I know who I am, I know what I’m worth, and I know what God has put me on this earth to do. So, the belt is cool, I’d love to get it, but ideally I just want to make sure I don’t waste my talents, so I want to get back in there as soon as I can.”
