Beneil Dariush reminded people that he still belonged to the creme de la creme of the lightweight division at UFC 280 with his performance against Mateusz Gamrot. The top lightweight reveals who he would like next in the octagon.
Beneil Dariush was not expected to get a victory as comfortable as UFC 280 against rising lightweight talent, Mateusz Gamrot. The veteran completely neutralized Gamrot’s biggest strength at the Abu Dhabi pay-per-view card and proved he is worthy of even fighting for the title. However, to Dariush’s bad luck the lightweight belt seems to be heading to Perth for a super fight between Islam Makhachev and Alexander Volkanovski.
Dariush is still not discouraged by this and is open to testing himself against another top fighter. Following his win, Dariush spoke to Submission Radio and revealed who he would like to fight next. “Rafael Fiziev…he’s good, man. I like that fight too. But, yeah, we’ll see. I don’t hate that fight,” said Dariush talking to Submission Radio.
“Ideally Charles would be better,” added Dariush in the interview. Charles Oliveira vs Beneil Dariush is most likely the next favorite non-title matchup in the lightweight division. Charles Oliveira is coming off a loss against Makhachev and Dariush would love a step up in competition.
Beneil Dariush is not willing to “beg” for a title shot
Dariush is one of the unluckiest fighters in the UFC lightweight division. The fighter is on a tremendous 8-fight win streak and is yet to get close to a title shot. If not for his injury, Dariush would’ve matched up against the current champion of the division in a title contender fight.
Dariush’s spot as the backup fighter for UFC 280 main event was snatched by Alexander Volkanovski last moment which also seemed to upset the fighter. But the top-ranked lightweight is on a mission to fight anyone that the promotion pairs him against. “I’m not a beggar. I’ve done everything I needed to do,” said Dariush leading up to UFC 280.
“If they want to give me the title shot, great If they don’t want to give it to me, great. I know who I am and I know what I want and I know what I’m going to do, and that’s fighting,” added Dariush in an interview with MMA Junkie.
