It didn’t take long for Charles Oliveira to remind everyone why he is one of the scariest lightweights in the UFC.
The beginning of the end was a massive head kick and then vicious ground and pound. Dariush had no answers to Oliveira’s power.
With just under a minute left in the first round, Oliveira found the finish, making history by holding the most finishes in UFC history (20).
Oliveira, the former champion, was stepping back into the Octagon for the first time since his loss to the current champion, Islam Makhachev. Dariush was on an eight-fight win streak and likely the next to fight for the title, if he got through Oliveira.
It looks like Oliveira, who spoke English for the first time in his post-fight interview, will be at the top of the list to fight Makhachev.
UFC 289: Charles Oliveira stops Beneil Dariush with first-round TKO