Beneil Dariush won’t get too stressed about the current state of the lightweight division.
Dariush (21-4-1 MMA, 15-4-1 UFC), who’s currently healing from a broken fibula and ankle injury, was forced to withdraw from his UFC Fight Night 202 headliner against Islam Makhachev in February, and as a result is seemingly the odd man out in the lightweight title picture.
With Charles Oliveira forced to vacate the belt prior to submitting Justin Gaethje at UFC 274, the lightweight strap is currently without an owner. Who Oliveira will face for the title is unknown, and with Dariush still not 100 percent, Makhachev has been campaigning for a shot at Oliveira, which would leave Dariush sitting idle.
“In my mind, if I’m as good as I think I am, if I’m the best in the world then everybody’s food,” Dariush told ESPN. “All these guys are just food and the only difference is, is the rotation. Like who’s gonna be first for me to eat. That’s basically how I look at it and so that’s one of the reasons why I’m not jumping on it like, ‘Oh, Charles has to give me this fight.’ I could clearly say, ‘Hey buddy, you always talk about how the top five never gave you the fight.
“We were scheduled to fight, we were supposed to fight in October of 2020, you bailed on me and said family issues, and then December you fought Tony Ferguson.’ What the heck, man? You’re being kind of a hypocrite. If I really cared, that’s how I’d come at this. I’d be like, ‘You’re being a hypocrite, you owe me a fight. Give me the fight,’ but I don’t care. Just tell me who’s next and let’s get to work. That’s really how I feel right now. Just annoyed. Mostly annoyed is the way I would put it.”
Regardless of how the chips fall, Dariush wants to fight as soon as he’s healthy. With his ankle and achilles still troubling him, Dariush said he’s targeting a return in fall, and is ready to go against any top lightweight contender.
“I don’t want to wait, I want to fight,” Dariush said. “If Islam gets this fight, cool. If I get the fight, cool. I get it. You can make a case for both of us. Like you said, Islam is on a 10-fight win streak, I have a win in the top 10 and the top five. When I beat Diego Ferreira he was top 10, when I beat Tony (Ferguson) he was top five so whatever.
“You can make a case for both of us. Honestly, I don’t care. Let me know who’s next. Am I fighting (Michael) Chandler, am I fighting Dustin Poirier, am I fighting Islam? I want to know if I’m fighting Islam and by a miracle am I fighting Charles. I just want to know what’s going on next and that’s really where I’m at.”
