UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev is unsure who’s next for him now that Beneil Dariush lost.
At UFC 289, streaking top contender Dariush (22-5-1 MMA, 16-5-1 UFC) was stopped in the first round by Charles Oliveira (34-9 MMA, 22-9 UFC), whom Makhachev submitted last October at UFC 280.
After Oliveira’s impressive performance against Dariush, UFC president Dana White said a rematch with Makhachev makes sense, but Makhachev admits he was looking forward to fresh blood.
“The fight was good,” Makhachev said in a recent interview translated by “YukaHero.” “Oliveira won, but I was rooting for Dariush. I thought it would be a new challenge for me. Dariush had eight wins in a row. I don’t know. I can’t say yet if my next fight will be a rematch against Charles. We have to wait. Now Justin (Gaethje) and Dustin (Poirier) will fight, and then the UFC will decide.
“Of course, I want a new name on my resume. It’ll be better for me. If Oliveira will not fight me now, everyone will say that I am avoiding him. I never choose my opponents. I will fight anyone the UFC gives me. I don’t think he can do anything. I’m not afraid of his grappling like the rest of the fighters. I can take him down at any time.”
Another fighter looking to run things back with Makhachev is featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, who took him to the brink in a decision loss at UFC 284 in February.
“Volkanovski is exactly the same,” Makhachev said. “If they offer a rematch with Volkanovski, I will gladly accept it. I have said many times that I would be much better prepared if there were no nuances associated with the conduct of this tournament, acclimatization and so on.”
If Makhachev could pick, he prefers former interim lightweight champ Dustin Poirier, who rematches Justin Gaethje for the “BMF” title in the UFC 291 headliner on July 29.
“I don’t know, maybe Poirier,” Makhachev said. “He has a big name in the UFC. Dariush lost, everything turned upside down. I can’t say anything for now. If he had beat Oliveira, it would have been a good fight. Dariush’s skills were highly appreciated. It would have been a good fight.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 289.
For UFC champ Islam Makhachev, ‘everything turned upside down’ by Beneil Dariush’s loss