Beneil Dariush won’t wait for title shot, reveals three possible opponents for next fight
Beneil Dariush isn’t interested in waiting to face the winner of Islam Makhachev vs. Alexander Volkanovski.
At UFC 280, Dariush extended his win streak as he scored a decision win over Mateusz Gamrot in a great showing. Even though it was another solid win for Dariush, he still won’t get the next title shot as all signs point to Volkanovski facing Makhachev next. With that, Dariush isn’t interested in waiting around and would rather get a fight in.
“I don’t want to sit out for another eight months, nine months, a year-and-a-half. I love fighting. I just want to fight. You’re not gonna be able to dangle the belt in front of me. The belt doesn’t make me feel special,” Dariush said to Morning Kombat. “I know who I am, I know what I’m worth, and I know what God has put me on this earth to do. So, the belt is cool, I’d love to get it, but ideally I just want to make sure I don’t waste my talents, so I want to get back in there as soon as I can.”
If Beneil Dariush does take a fight instead of waiting for a title shot, he believes there are three possible opponents for him that make sense.
“I guess right now my options are the winner of Dustin Poirier (and Michael Chandler), Charles (Oliveira), or (Rafael) Fiziev,” Dariush said. “Those are the three options. … Those are great fights, so let’s just figure this out and move forward.”
Beneil Dariush (22-4-1) is on an eight-fight winning streak and before the win over Gamrot he scored a decision victory over Tony Ferguson at UFC 262. On the win streak, Dariush also holds notable wins over Diego Ferreira, Drakkar Klose, Drew Dober, and Thiago Moises among others. He’s currently ranked fourth at lightweight following his UFC 280 win.
