Beneil Dariush is itching for a fight after his highly-anticipated clash against Charles Oliveira at UFC 288 had to be canceled after the Brazilian picked up an injury. While the bout has now been postponed to UFC 289 in Canada, Dariush would much rather fight Dustin Poirier than Oliveira.
MMA journo Ariel Helwani reported that the promotion is working on a new co-main event for UFC 288 and suggested Beneil Dariush vs. Dustin Poirier. In response, Dariush revealed that he had already asked for 'The Diamond' but was turned down.
While the Iranian-American believes Poirier isn't keen on facing him, he claimed that he preferred the Louisiana native as an opponent over Charles Oliveira as he trusts him to show up for the fight. Dariush wrote on Twitter:
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"I much prefer this [Facing Poirier instead of Oliveira]. I have more confidence in Dustin showing up than Charles. Dustin can pick the weight and the date. Obviously no later than June. I’m trying to get another fight before I go completely gray."
Beneil Dariush vs. Charles Oliveira: Lightweight clash reportedly pushed to UFC 289 on June 10
The UFC 288 event scheduled for May 6 suffered a huge loss when its co-main event between Beneil Dariush and Charles Oliveira had to be pulled from the fight card.
While this marks the second time 'do Bronx' has pulled out of a bout against the Iranian-American, it seems the UFC is looking to give the fans what they want. According to Beneil Dariush, the highly-awaited contest between the two top-ranked lightweights is now being rebooked for UFC 289 on June 10 in Canada.
In a recent interview with The Schmo, Dariush opened up about the discussions he's had with the promotion:
"They said they want to push the fight to June 10... I still don’t have a contract, so I’m not sure... But that’s what they told me they want to do, June 10... I said a couple of things: If this guy pulls out again, I want the title shot... And basically a pay bump, too. They agreed to both things... So, I said yeah... Let’s do June 10."
Watch the full interview below: