Dana White not committed to giving the winner of Beneil Dariush vs. Charles Oliveira the next UFC lightweight title shot: “We’ll see what happens”
UFC president Dana White has not committed to giving the winner of Beneil Dariush vs Charles Oliveira the next title shot at lightweight.
This Saturday night, the co-main event of UFC 289 will see Charles Oliveira square off with Beneil Dariush. In the eyes of many, this is the kind of bout that should determine the new number one contender for the UFC lightweight championship. That belt, as we know, is held by Islam Makhachev, who beat Oliveira for the strap last year.
Both men have already achieved great things in this division. However, while ‘Do Bronx’ has held the gold already, Dariush hasn’t even had the chance to fight for it.
According to Dana White, a win over the Brazilian isn’t quite guaranteed to land him a meeting with Makhachev.
“I have no idea,” White responded when asked about the stakes in the UFC 289 co-main event. “We’ll see how the fight goes on Saturday but yeah, it obviously makes a lot of sense.
“Right here, right now, makes a lot of sense. We’ll see what happens.”
Quotes via MMA Fighting
White hesitates on Oliveira/Dariush winner
Upon hearing Dana’s response to the question, Dariush noted that he’s not concerned about the UFC going back on their word. Their word, of course, was that they’d push forward with giving Beneil a title shot if he beats Charles.
Dana did say that it makes sense in the moment, and you have to wonder who else would qualify as the top contender. Still, as we’ve seen many times in the past, anything can happen in the UFC.
Do you expect to see the winner of Charles Oliveira vs Beneil Dariush get the next title shot at 155 pounds? Let us know, BJPENN Nation!
