UFC lightweight Beneil Dariush allowed his frustration with the champ to get the better of him on The Fighter vs The Writer. Dariush is riding a seven-fight win streak, and is ranked #6 in the UFC lightweight division. He still can’t get near the champ, Charles Oliveira, who Dariush called “hypocritical” for chasing a big-money fight against Conor McGregor.
“He’s talking about wanting to fight Conor, and he talks about how these guys never gave him a shot when he was outside the top five, blah, blah, blah.
Beneil Dariush Blasts “Hypocritical” Oliveira for Avoiding Elite Competition, Chasing McGregor Fight
We were supposed to fight October of 2020. I have a fight contract, I can post a picture of it. I was supposed to fight Charles, and he pulled out of the fight, and then a couple months later, instead of fighting me, he fought Tony Ferguson. He said something about family issues and I’m not going to say, ‘Oh, he didn’t fight me, I can’t believe it.’ Family comes first, I understand that. But the same thing people did to him, he’s doing to me.
He was supposed to fight me, bailed, ran and fought Tony Ferguson. Now, instead of fighting actual contenders, he wants to go fight Conor? He wants to go fight Nate Diaz? This is hypocritical. This is the only thing that’s bothering me.”
Dariush described any lightweight looking for a fight against the Irish superstar as “chasing unicorns.”“I understand the media has their thing, the UFC has their part, but for him to be chasing a unicorn, it’s super frustrating.
There’s two clear contenders in front of you, and you’re trying to chase a unicorn. No one knows when Conor is going to fight again. The guy might not even fight this year. Make it make sense. It just doesn’t make sense.”
These two clear contenders are Dariush himself and surging lightweight Islam Makhachev, a dominant wrestler with serious finishing power. Dariush wants a title eliminator against Makhachev to set up a fight against Charles Oliveira.
“Logically, it makes sense,” Dariush said. “I really don’t what else there is. Not even saying our names. I never hear him say my name as far as the fights go. I’m frustrated at myself because if I hadn’t been injured, all of this wouldn’t be happening, so I’m a little frustrated with myself. That adds to it as well. But it’s possible that he wants one of us to knock the other person out so he only has to deal with one person.
[…] I think stylistically, we’re a nightmare matchup for Charles. I think I’m a nightmare matchup for both of them.”
What do you make of Beneil Dariush’s comments? Let us know in the comments.
