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Beneil Dariush is preparing for a perfect fight against Charles Oliveira. Following two previous cancelations, Oliveira vs. Dariush goes down at UFC 289, the upcoming pay-per-view event scheduled for June 10 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver.
Though not officially announced as a No. 1 contender, the winner of Oliveira vs. Dariush could secure a championship opportunity against Islam Makhachev, who has yet to schedule his next defense. Winner of his past eight fights, Beneil Dariush was considered one of the next fighters in line for the American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) product, but he failed to secure Makhachev for one reason or another.
Beneil Dariush discusses upcoming fight with Charles Oliveira
This time, however, Beneil Dariush says he has a surefire way to get a fight with Makhachev next. That way is to dominate Oliveira, the former UFC lightweight champion who is returning for the first time since losing to the Khabib Nurmagomedov protégé at UFC 280 this past October. Perhaps one of the most dangerous fighters in the promotion, ‘Do Bronx’ is considered a nightmare to deal with on the feet and on the ground.
While Dariush admits Oliveira poses a threat everywhere, he chooses to run toward it instead of away from it.
“I actually get more pumped up about the grappling,” said Dariush in a recent interview with Farah Hannoun of MMA Junkie. “I’m not going to lie, to get into some of the scrambles with him and to be able to kind of just go nuts on the ground, that is just as exciting as the standup is. An opportunity to have this fight on the ground, I’m actually really looking forward to that because you see him submit so many people, and you wonder how good his jiu-jitsu is.
“But then at the same time, you see him lose when he shouldn’t lose in the grappling, so I’m really looking forward to getting my hands on him and getting a feel of his grappling.”
One more win away from a title shot?
Regardless of wherever the fight happens, Dariush wants to leave quite an impression in the Octagon. That way, when it comes time for the UFC to get Makhachev an opponent for his next defense, he is the first person Dana White and co. calls.
“The focus of this fight is to be perfect,” said Dariush. “That’s the game plan, to not make stupid errors and not try to fight his fight. Personally, the way I see it, is domination. I plan on dominating this fight. I want to remind people — because I even think my last fight [against Mateusz Gamrot at UFC 280] was close. I’ll be honest with you, after the fight was over, I thought it was going to be a 29-28. And I know some judges gave it to me 30-27, but I was not super stoked on the fight.
“…The fight will be an absolute domination is what it is going to be,” continued Dariush. “I will do what I plan to do, and there’s nothing he can do to stop it. That’s what I hope for.”
Should he get through Oliveira unscathed, Dariush says a fight with Makhachev at UFC 294 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi would be great.
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