Charles Oliveira vs. Beneil Dariush now targeted for UFC 289
Charles Oliveira vs. Beneil Dariush will just fight a month later.
Oliveira and Dariush were supposed to serve as the co-main event of UFC 288 on May 6 in Newark, New Jersey. However, it was revealed the Brazilian suffered a minor injury and the fight would be rebooked for a later date.
Now, just a few days after the news came out, Dariush did an interview with The Schmo and announced the fight is now targeted to take place at UFC 289 on June 10. However, contracts have yet to be sent out for signed, but that is the plan.
“They said they want to push the fight to June 10,” Dariush told The Schmo. “I still don’t have a contract so I’m not sure if it’s for sure, but that’s what they told me they want to do, June 10. At first, I wasn’t about it because what if this guy pulls out? But then I said a couple of things: if this guy pulls out again, I want the title shot. And basically [I asked for] a pay bump, too. They agreed to both things, and that was pretty much it. They agreed to both things, so if he pulls out I get the title shot. That’s what I was told. It’s hard to say no to that because the UFC, it seems on their part they’re doing everything to make this fight happen. So, I said yeah let’s do it, let’s do June 10. I agreed to June 10 and I got some kind of insurance just in case he pulls out.”
Charles Oliveira (33-9 and one No Contest) suffered a submission loss to Islam Makhachev at UFC 280 for the lightweight title. Prior to that, he submitted Justin Gaethje in the first round at UFC 274 but was stripped of his title after missing weight. Oliveira had defended his belt once with a submission win over Dustin Poirier and won the vacant title with a KO win over Michael Chandler.
Beneil Dariush (22-4-1) is riding an eight-fight win streak and coming off a decision win over Mateusz Gamrot and beating Tony Ferguson by decision. Also on the win streak, he had notable wins over Diego Ferreira, Scott Holtzman, Drew Dober, and Drakkar Klose among others.
With Oliveira vs. Dariush likely to take place at UFC 289 the card is as follows:
- Amanda Nunes vs. Julianna Pena
- Charles Oliveira vs. Beneil Dariush
- Stephen Thompson vs. Michel Pereira
- Dan Ige vs. Nate Landwehr
- Eryk Anders vs. Marc-Andre Barriault
- Jasmine Jasudavicius vs. Miranda Maverick
- Diana Belbita vs. Maria Oliveira
- Blake Bilder vs. Kyle Nelson
- Matt Schnell vs. David Dvorak
- Hakeem Dawodu vs. Lucas Almeida
- Aiemann Zahabi vs. Aoriqileng
