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Chael Sonnen has proposed a fight between the No. 4-ranked UFC lightweight Beneil Dariush and the No. 1-ranked Charles Oliveira. He also addressed whether Dariush has done enough to warrant a potential No. 1 contender's matchup.
In an edition of Beyond the Fight, Sonnen alluded to the fact that reigning UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev will defend his title against UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski next. The fight will likely be in February 2023. On that note, he highlighted that Beneil Dariush is unlikely to receive a lightweight title shot before Volkanovski.
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'The Bad Guy' strongly disapproved of Dariush's recent statements whereby he indicated that doesn't necessarily want a UFC title, and simply aims to fight the best in the world.
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Sonnen harked back to a recent YouTube video of his and admitted that he'd called for Dariush to face the winner of the Michael Chandler-Dustin Poirier fight that'll transpire this month. Backpedaling on that idea, he opined that Dariush should face former UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira instead. Sonnen lauded Dariush for his incredible 8-fight win streak and stated:
"Yesterday, I sat here, and I told you. I think we need to do Chandler and Poirier and give a real good look at drawing that into Benny. But I've had a day to think about my own idea. Is Benny vs. Oliveira the fight to make? Because one thing that hasn't been discussed is what do you do with Charles."
Chael Sonnen emphasized that Charles Oliveira is coming off a loss to Islam Makhachev, and could work his way back to the title by beating Beneil Dariush. Alternatively, Dariush could bag himself the next title shot by defeating a former titleholder like Oliveira, while Makhachev and Volkanovski settle their score.
Watch Sonnen discuss the topic at 4:38 in the video below:
Beneil Dariush seemingly disapproves of Alexander Volkanovski's UFC lightweight title shot
In a recent interview with Luke Thomas, Beneil Dariush expressed his disagreement with Alexander Volkanovski receiving the next shot at Islam Makhachev's UFC lightweight championship. Dariush pointed out that it should be him who fights Makhachev for lightweight gold next, whereas 'Volk' could defend his featherweight championship against Arnold Allen.
Beneil Dariush went as far as to outline that both matchups be booked for the UFC 284 event on February 12th, 2023, in Perth, Australia. He believes that a champion vs. champion super-fight could thereby be built up steadily but understands that the UFC brass probably doesn't agree with him. Dariush said:
"You know, I think Volkanovski should really consider fighting Arnold Allen. I'll fight Makhachev and then we'll unite the belts, but whatever. They don't wanna do that, that's fine too."
Watch Dariush's assessment below:
