Dana White leaning towards granting title shot to winner of Charles Oliveira vs. Beneil Dariush at UFC 289
Dana White has addressed the possibility of the Charles Oliveira vs. Beneil Dariush UFC 289 matchup's winner getting the next UFC lightweight title shot. Former UFC lightweight champion Oliveira is scheduled to face top-tier contender Dariush in a highly-anticipated lightweight bout, which will serve as the co-headlining fight at UFC 289 on June 10, 2023.
During the UFC 289 pre-fight press conference, UFC president Dana White was asked about the Oliveira-Dariush winner potentially receiving a title shot against UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev at UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi, UAE, on October 21, 2023.
The UFC head honcho responded by suggesting that the Charles Oliveira vs. Beneil Dariush fight's winner facing Islam Makhachev for lightweight gold next does make sense. However, he insinuated that the title shot hasn't been made official as of yet. White stated:
"I have no idea. We'll see how the fight goes on Saturday. But yeah, that obviously makes a lot of sense. You know, right here right now, it makes a lot of sense. We'll see what happens."
Charles Oliveira's most recent fight witnessed him suffer a second-round submission defeat in a UFC lightweight title bout against Islam Makhachev in October 2022. Meanwhile, Beneil Dariush is coming off a unanimous decision victory over Mateusz Gamrot in October 2022 and is on an eight-fight win streak.
Watch White discuss the topic at 11:55 in the video below:
UFC 289 features several exciting fights, including the long-awaited Charles Oliveira vs. Beneil Dariush matchup
The UFC 289 main event will see UFC women's featherweight and bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes defend her bantamweight title against Irene Aldana. Moreover, as noted, the event's co-headlining fight has Charles Oliveira taking on Beneil Dariush. Many believe that the Oliveira-Dariush showdown could be a number-one contender's matchup in the lightweight division.
Besides, the event's main card, preliminary card, and early preliminary card feature several other exciting matchups. Veterans such as Dan Ige and Eryk Anders will also compete in their respective scheduled main-card matchups. Middleweight contenders Nassourdine Imavov and Chris Curtis are set to close out the prelims.
As for the early prelims, they'll feature notable fights in the men's flyweight and women's strawweight divisions. Listed below is the UFC 289 fight card:
Main card:
Women's Bantamweight title bout: Amanda Nunes vs. Irene Aldana
Lightweight bout: Charles Oliveira vs. Beneil Dariush
Welterweight bout: Mike Malott vs. Adam Fugitt
Featherweight bout: Dan Ige vs. Nate Landwehr
Middleweight bout: Marc-Andre Barriault vs. Eryk Anders
Prelims (ESPN / ESPN+)
Middleweight bout: Nassourdine Imavov vs. Chris Curtis
Women's Flyweight bout: Miranda Maverick vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius
Bantamweight bout: Aiemann Zahabi vs. Aori Qileng
Featherweight bout: Kyle Nelson vs. Blake Bilder
Early prelims: (ESPN+/UFC Fight Pass)
Flyweight bout: David Dvorak vs. Stephen Erceg
Women's Strawweight bout: Diana Belbita vs. Maria Oliveira