According to Charles Oliveira the former UFC lightweight champion will be back in action on May 6. ‘Do Bronx’ took to Instagram today to reveal he is booked to fight Beneil Dariush at UFC 288 at a venue TBD.
This fight is expected to serve as co-main event on the card, with Aljamain Sterling defending his UFC bantamweight title against former double champion Henry Cejudo in the headliner.
“Now it’s official,” wrote Oliveira online. “The lightweight lion is hungry and ready to hunt.”
Oliveira’s last appearance in the Octagon was at UFC 280 in October. There he lost to Islam Makhachev, by second round submission, in a bout for the vacant UFC lightweight title.
That title was vacant after Oliveira missed weight at UFC 274, when attempting to defend the belt versus Justin Gaethje (whom he wound up beating anyway). Prior to that he had defended the title to Dustin Poirier at UFC 269. He won the belt with a TKO over Michael Chandler at UFC 262. He is currently ranked number one in the lightweight division.
Dariush has quietly put together an eight fight winning streak that extends back to 2018. During that run he has won Performance of the Night honours for finishes over Drew Dober, Frank Camacho and Drakkar Klose.
Most recently, at UFC 280, he defeated Mateusz Gamrot by unanimous decision. Dariush is ranked fourth at heavyweight, behind Justin Gaethje, Dustin Poirier and Oliveira.
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