“UFC Didn’t Want to Do It” – Lightweight Contender Reveals Beneil Dariush Accepted Short Notice Fight for UFC 288

Beneil Dariush is currently facing a lot of obstacles that block his way to the title shot. Dariush was all set to face Charles Oliveira at UFC 288 in the co-main event. However, things took an unexpected turn when Oliveira withdrew from the fight after suffering a minor injury. It got pretty messed up for Dariush ever since the incident took place. The winner between the two was decided to fight lightweight champion Islam Makhachev for the belt. However, now that the bout is canceled, UFC president Dana White is looking for an interesting matchup.

In the post-fight press conference of UFC on ESPN 44, White made it clear that, like the majority, he too wants to see Dariush and Oliveira lock horns. The UFC boss went on to say that the fight between the two would come to fruition in the near future. Nonetheless, Dariush wanted to fight in UFC 288. The UFC lightweight, Arman Tsarukyan, revealed that Dariush was ready to fight against him in UFC 288 on very short notice. However, the promotion was totally against the idea.

Arman Tsarukyan shows respect to Beneil Dariush

Tsarukyan stands at the 8th position in the lightweight division, whereas Dariush is ranked 4. However, Dariush was ready to clash against the Russian fighter when he stepped forward to replace Oliveira. Tsarukyan took to his Twitter handle and wrote, “Respect to @beneildariush for accepting the fight with me on May 6th. Sucks ufc didn’t want to do it. Hopefully we meet in the future” Under the post, Dariush wrote, “I’m sure we’ll meet in the near future. All the best.“

Even though Tsarukyan is ranked much below Dariush, he is catching a lot of eyeballs lately. After losing against the current lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev, Tsarukyan bounced back to achieve a five-fight winning streak. However, the streak was broken when he lost to Mateusz Gamrot via unanimous decision at UFC on ESPN 38. Following the loss, he was able to come back and win against Damir Ismagulov at UFC Fight Night 216.

Dana White: The UFC president wants an interesting matchup

The UFC president, Dana White, wanted to make UFC 288 interesting with an exciting matchup for the co-main event. White is having conversations with UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby to come up with a great matchup. He even mentioned that Gilbert Burns would be the right choice.

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At the moment, Burns has called out Dustin Poirier for UFC 288. Furthermore, Poirier tweeted that he is ready to move up and fight if he gets paid well. The fans need to wait patiently to find out who will fight whom in the co-main event of UFC 288.

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