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A fight between former UFC Lightweight Champion Charles Oliveira and rising divisional contender Beneil Dariush will reportedly have to wait a little longer. A report from ESPN Deportes on Friday stated that Oliveira has suffered an injury in training, forcing his bout against Dariush to be taken off UFC 288.
The promotion is reportedly planning on moving the matchup to a later date instead of finding Dariush a new opponent for the promotion’s May 6 pay-per-view event.
The report states that Charles Oliveira has a minor injury that has briefly stopped him from training. It is not known at the moment when a re-booking for his fight against Dariush will take place.
Charles Oliveira’s next campaign toward a title delayed
The fight was scheduled to be Oliveira’s first non-title appearance since late 2020. He first got into the title picture with a lengthy string of wins in the division. He earned the vacant UFC lightweight belt in 2021 with a finish win against Michael Chandler.
Charles Oliveira defended his belt once later that year, picking up a submission victory over Dustin Poirier.
“Do Bronx’s” title reign came to an end last year on the weigh-in scale, when the Brazilian missed weight for a fight against Justin Gaethje and was subsequently stripped of his championship. Despite losing the belt, Oliveira remained the division’s top contender with a quick submission win against Gaethje that weekend.
the 33-year-old’s last fight was a chance for him to regain the then-vacant belt, taking on Islam Makhachev at UFC 280. That fight didn’t go his way. Makhachev’s picked up the victory and his first piece of UFC hardware with an arm triangle choke submission.
Dariush’s biggest fight yet, just not yet
Dariush will be trying to keep his hot streak at lightweight going against the Chute Boxe talent. The 33-year-old contender has put together eight consecutive wins since 2018, including victories over Tony Ferguson and Mateusz Gamrot.
Dariush is currently ranked fourth at 155 pounds, per UFC rankings. A win over Oliveira could potentially put him next in line for a title shot at lightweight.
Oliveira and Dariush were scheduled to be the co-main event of UFC 288 from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. It is not known yet what fight will officially take the co-main event spot instead.
The headlining act on the card is set to be a match between UFC Bantamweight Champion Aljamain Sterling and former titleholder Henry Cejudo.
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