"Beat Dustin Poirier, I'm pretty much back in title contention" - Beneil Dariush targets three potential opponents after UFC 311 fight fallout

Beneil Dariush is determined to turn his misfortune into a run of success. In a recent interview with Inside Fighting, the UFC lightweight detailed a potential plan that could lead him back to the fringes of title contention at 155 pounds. As he sees it, a bout with Dustin Poirier is the way.

At UFC 311, Dariush had a different opportunity, as he was set to take on Renato Moicano. Unfortunately, the Brazilian stepped in on short-notice for an injured Arman Tsarukyan, who had withdrawn from his lightweight title fight against Islam Makhachev in the main event.

To make matters worse, Dariush was not given a replacement foe. However, there are several fighters he'd like to face, none of whom are Moicano.

"It's Dustin Poirier, Max Holloway or, what's his name, [Michael] Chandler. You know, obviously I don't know how Chandler is ahead of me in the rankings, but I think those are the fights that make sense. And my most ideal one would be Dustin Poirier, and then Holloway, then Chandler."

When asked by the interview what exactly interested him about the aforementioned matchups, Dariush was blunt.

"Mostly it's the elevation of my position [in the division]. It's kind of where, I think... you know, if I beat Dustin Poirier, I'm pretty much back in title contention. I think same thing with Max Holloway. Maybe not so much with, what's his name, Michael Chandler? But I still think it puts me in a pretty good place so that's, kind of, my mindset."

Check out Beneil Dariush's path back to success (6:20):

Unfortunately for Dariush, his desired matchups may not be easy to come by. While Poirier is gearing up for his retirement fight, he is still ranked #4, while Dariush is ranked #9. Moreover, Dariush is a grappler, and Poirier is likely to pass him up in favor of a different stylistic matchup.

Similarly, Max Holloway is ranked #5, so he is perhaps ranked too high for Dariush. However, the same cannot be said for former three-time Bellator lightweight champion Michael Chandler, who is ranked #7 and 1-4 in his last five fights, with a two-fight losing streak.

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Beneil Dariush is on a rough patch

At one point, Beneil Dariush was on an 8-fight win streak, which featured high-profile wins over former UFC interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson and highly regarded grappler Mateusz Gamrot. Unfortunately, he's now on a two-fight losing streak.

Check out Charles Oliveira TKO'ing Beneil Dariush:

At UFC 289, he was steamrolled by ex-undisputed lightweight champion Charles Oliveira, who TKO'd him in round one. Then, at UFC on ESPN 52, Arman Tsarukyan knocked him out in round one as well.