Beneil Dariush avoids surgery, eyes summer return against Islam Makhachev
Beneil Dariush will not need surgery to help repair his broken leg.
Ahead of his UFC Vegas 49 main event scrap against Islam Makhachev, Dariush suffered a freak leg injury that forced him out of the fight. After the injury, there was some talk of him possibly needing surgery but he revealed to ESPN that surgery is not needed.
“The physical therapy comes in for the ankle,” Dariush told ESPN. “The ankle right now is going to get weaker and it’s going to get lazy. And also certain ways you sleep and things you do, it’s going to get tighter. So the ankle goes downhill. The physical therapy is really just to keep the ankle healthy and if the ankle’s healthy, I should be able to be 100 percent – six to eight weeks is what they’re saying. At first, they were talking four months just to start training again. So when I heard six to eight weeks, I almost started crying.”
When Dariush was forced out of the fight, Bobby Green stepped up who Makhachev beat by first-round TKO. After the fight, he called for a title shot, but after he asked for the Rafael dos Anjos fight on short notice and then turned it down, White revealed they will be rebooking the bout.
“I love the Dariush fight,” White said to Barstool Sports. “Since he turned down this fight we’re going to remake the Dariush fight. Dying to see that fight. And then (if) he gets through Dariush, it’s very interesting.”
After hearing that, Beneil Dariush is glad the UFC wants to rebook the fight as it’s what he wants too as he wants to face Islam Makhachev in the summer.
“I really want to see this fight, too,” Dariush said. “Thank God, we’re going to reschedule. I feel bad for Islam. I’m sure he’s not happy about the situation, but it’s the ideal situation for me to get this fight rebooked. I’d like to have another 10 weeks for this camp, but if it’s shorter, it’s shorter. June, July, those are dates.”
