UFC star Beneil Dariush wants to pursue dream matchup with 'lightweight GOAT' in quest for greatness
Beneil Dariush is currently riding an eight-fight win streak, and is ranked No.4 in the UFC lightweight division. Dariush is slated to face the 'pride of favela', Charles Oliveira in the co-main event of UFC 289 scheduled for next month.
The pair were originally supposed to meet at UFC 288, but Oliveira pulled out of the bout and the fight was rescheduled for UFC 289. Leading up to the fight, Dariush appeared in an interview with The AllStar and spoke about his dreams of fighting Khabib Nurmagomedov, who he called the 'lightweight GOAT'.
Here's what Beneil Dariush said when asked about who his dream UFC match-up is:
"Ideally it would be Khabib [Nurmagomedov], right? He’s the best lightweight in the world. Ideally, after beating Charles [Oliveira] and [Islam] Makhachev, then I would have an opportunity to fight him, but obviously, I don’t think that’s gonna happen."
Skip to 18:58 for Dariush on Khabib Nurmagomedov:
Beneil Dariush last faced Mateusz Gamrot at UFC 280, and beat the Polish fighter over the course of three rounds. The Iranian-American fighter showed excellent grappling and scrambling ability, negating many of Gamrot's wrestling advances.
Dariush is currently on an eight-fight win-streak, having beaten the likes of Thiago Moises, Drew Dober and Tony Ferguson. He has a promotional record of 16-4-1 and an overall MMA record of 22-4-1.
Charles Oliveira vs. Beneil Dariush: Fighter picks, odds
Charles Oliveira vs. Beneil Dariush is a very intriguing match-up, as both fighters are elite in their respective skill-sets, and are ranked in the top five. Both fighters last fought at UFC 280, however, Beneil Dariush racked up a win while 'do Bronx' encountered a loss.
Both fighters are vying for the position of the No.1-contender spot. The winner of this fight will essentially compete for the lightweight title next. Dariush is opening as the -120 favorite against Charles Oliveira who is the +100 underdog, according to bestfightodds.com.
Despite being the underdog, many UFC fighters are picking 'do Bronx' to win this fight. Bryce Mitchell, Alexander Hernandez, Loopy Godinez, Malcolm Gordon, Marc-Andre Barriault, Trey Ogden and Rob Font picked Oliveira to win. Here's what Billy Quarantillo said:
"Charles Oliveira is super, super dangerous. He was looking unstoppable until Islam [Makhachev] came along. So, I'm going to go with Charles Oliveira"
Bryan Barbarena, Geoff Neal, Julian Marquez, Mario Bautista and Sam Hughes picked Dariush to win the bout.
Check out James Lynch's fighter picks for Oliveira vs. Dariush: