Beneil Dariush was sidelined from competition since February after he pulled out of his scheduled bout against Islam Makhachev citing an injury.
The No.6 lightweight contender last fought at UFC 262 back in May 2021, winning a one-sided decision against Tony Ferguson. He was then scheduled to fight Makhachev on February 26.
Unfortunately, he had to pull out of the fight due to an ankle injury. He was later replaced by Bobby Green on short notice.
Now with the lightweight throne vacant, he is one of the top candidates to fight for the vacant title.
In an interview with ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, Dariush said that both he and Makhachev deserve to fight for the title. He said:
“I don’t wanna wait, I wanna fight. If Islam gets the fight, cool. If I get the fight, cool. I get it, like, you can make a case for both of us. ”
“Like you said Islam is on a ten or eleven fight win streak, I have a win in the top 10 and the top 5. When I beat Diego Ferreira he was top 10, when I beat Tony he was top 5, so like, whatever. You can make a case for both of us.”
He further added that he doesn’t care who but he will fight anyone ranked above him.
“Honestly, I don’t care, let me know who’s next. Am I fighting [Michael] Chandler? Fighting Dustin Poirier? Or am I fighting Islam [Makhachev]? I wanna know if I’m fighting Islam, you know by a miracle I might fighting Charles [Oliveira].”
“I just wanna know what’s going on next, and there’s where I’m at.”
He also named August as a preferable date for his return to the octagon with Islam Makhachev.
“If I can fight in August, whoever can show up in August. Ideally, Islam will be the best.”
UFC President Dana White has been saying he would like to rebook Dariush and Makhachev following UFC 274.
But he is also being asked to book Makhachev against Oliveira for the vacant title.