Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweight champion weight Charles Oliveira ahead of schedule defeated American Beneil Dariush at the 289th numbered tournament in Vancouver and, it seems, knocked out a dilogy against UFC champion Islam Makhachev. It was a cool Brazilian show!
Standby champion In February, Makhachev successfully defended his title for the first time. In Australia, in a difficult fight, the domestic fighter defeated Alex Volkanovski, the best UFC fighter at that time — because of the talk about the controversial decision of the judges, fans and the media began to disperse the topic of revenge. But the promotion management made it clear that Wolf needed to return to his featherweight division and have a unification fight with Yair Rodriguez, and Islam was advised to rest until the fall.
The league is counting on the Russian on October 21. The main MMA promotion of the world will come to the Etihad arena in Abu Dhabi, where Islam will be the protagonist of the bright event. Makhachev and his fans have amazing memories of the UAE, because it was there that in the fall of 2022 the Dagestani ran over Charles Oliveira and returned Khabib Nurmagomedov's belt to Russia.
“How are we going to sell PPV?” Despite Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje battling for the Most Dangerous Bastard (BMF) title in July, the lightweight contenders were still considered to be the Vancouver fight between the declassed Islam in a round and a half Oliveira and going on a series of eight victories Beneil Dariush.
Makhachev himself decided on the choice of his next opponent a long time ago. In a conversation with Daniel Cormier, Khabib's successor admitted that Oliveira, who «knocked» in the first fight, would no longer want to compete with him, so he would not mind sharing the octagon with Beneil.
«
"I hope Dariush can beat Oliveira because I want to fight him. I've fought Charles before and I have no desire to do it again. I need a new challenge, a new opponent — to be honest, I think Beneil can beat him. On the other hand, I don’t know how we will sell pay-per-view broadcasts (PPV) with him, because he is too good a guy for this … An exemplary family man, goes everywhere with his daughter — this is bad for business.
Islam MakhachevUFC Lightweight Champion
Important to note: Islam and Beneil are run by the same manager, Ali Abdelaziz.
Charles brought Vancouver into ecstasy Like Makhachev, bookmakers were also waiting for victory from Beneil. The American of Iranian origin, who opened as a small favorite, quickly showed Oliveira who was better on the ground, pressing his opponent on the ground and scoring points.
Perhaps, with such tactics, Dariusz could have played all three rounds (after all, in recent years, the athlete has not pleased with early victories). If not for one thing — Charles got up. And delivered a crushing blow to the head. Block softened the haikick a bit, but Beneil swayed anyway. The Brazilian, who felt the shock of his opponent, opened up and went to finish off — the judge gave Dariusz time to save, but at the time of the stoppage, the most underestimated lightweight was on the verge of passing out.
Four reasons why these four minutes are historical:
Beneil can only sympathize. Today he was one step away from the «titulnik», but it didn't work out. We assume that this plays into the hands of the UFC, because the modest Assyrian does not attract fans in any way (he does not even have 200 thousand subscribers in the social network banned in the Russian Federation). The wrestler is not eager for the finish line, gives faded interviews, dresses in a simple way at a press conference … The same cannot be said about the bursting tears of Charles, whose hype is confirmed by the applause of the Rogers arena.
Revenge is inevitable… no matter how much Makhachev, who has not known defeat for 12 fights, wants it. With today's performance (multiplied by the organization's clear interest in a second Superfight), Oliveira deserved a chance to get even with the Russian and avenge his lost 11-match winstreak.
«
"Thanks for your support, Vancouver. The champion has a name — it's Charles Oliveira! I needed to go out and make a big statement. Last time you didn't see even 10% of Charles Oliveira, but this time you saw 120%. Respect to Beneil, but Dana White, give me a title shot. Ready to fight at Makhachev's house. I always said my fists were loaded. Hey, who's the champion?!"
Charles OliveiraFormer UFC Lightweight Champion