While a piece of UFC gold will be on the line in this weekend’s pay-per-view main event, the fight week numbers and attention on the co-headliner has left little doubt over which contest is the most anticipated.
Setting the stage for Amanda Nunes’ title defense against Irene Aldana at UFC 289 on Saturday night will be former lightweight kingpin Charles Oliveira and in-form contender Beneil Dariush.
The pair of elite 155lbers will enter the Octagon inside Vancouver’s Rogers Arena in pursuit of the next opportunity at ending Islam Makhachev’s reign. While “Do Bronx” is targeting redemption having suffered defeat to the Dagestani last October, his Iranian-born counterpart is confident that he won’t let that happen.
In the buildup to the UFC’s return to Canadian soil, Dariush has displayed a high level of self-belief, backing himself to overwhelm Oliveira in both the striking and grappling realms come fight night.
In fact, despite the Brazilian’s prowess on the mat — which has helped him tally up 16 submissions wins in the UFC, the most in both divisional and promotional history — Dariush believes he’d defeat Oliveira in “nine out of 10” grappling matches.
Charles Oliveira Tells Beneil Dariush: You Have Three Rounds To Test Your BJJ
During his appearance at UFC 289 media day on Wednesday, Charles Oliveira responded to Dariush’s confidence and firm grappling declaration.
While “Do Bronx” maintained that he has nothing but respect for his fellow lightweight contender, he challenged the Iranian-born American to put his money where his mouth is and test his jiu-jitsu this Saturday.
“You gotta be confident when you come into a fight like this,” Oliveira said. “All the respect in the world for him. The one thing I’ve said many times: I’m an MMA fighter. I’m a complete fighter. I’m not a jiu-jitsu fighter. Well, if he feels so confident about his jiu-jitsu, he has three rounds to try to bring it down to the ground and see what’s going on, and we’ll see what happens.”
Having begun his combat sports journey on the mats, becoming a decorated BJJ practitioner, Dariush would appear to have the credentials to hang with the UFC’s most prolific submission specialist on the ground.
But although the #4-ranked contender has admitted that the prospect of tangling with “Do Bronx” is enticing, he’s also acknowledged that a “dogfight” on the feet is on the cards.
Either way, entertainment appears guaranteed in the UFC 289 co-main event.
