Beneil Dariush says Charles Oliveira owes him UFC lightweight title fight: “Just own up to the person you were supposed to fight”

Beneil Dariush says Charles Oliveira owes him a UFC lightweight title fight, saying to “just own up to the person you were supposed to fight.”

At UFC 262 last month in Houston, Oliveira defeated Michael Chandler in the main event of the evening to win the vacant UFC lightweight title. In the co-main event, Dariush defeated Tony Ferguson via unanimous decision in a performance that rocketed him into the top-five in the UFC lightweight division. Oliveira and Dariush are two of the best fighters in the world at 155lbs right now and it feels like they will eventually meet inside the Octagon. But if you ask Dariush, he is hoping that this fight takes place much sooner rather than later.

Speaking to MMAFighting.com’s Damon Martin, Dariush claims that Oliveira owes him a fight because, according to Dariush, the two were supposed to fight last summer after Dariush knocked out Scott Holtzman with a spinning back fist. However, Dariush says that Oliveira couldn’t take the fight, and he is hoping that he now lives up to his end of the deal.

“I think Charles actually owes me a fight. I stepped up to fight him on short notice, right after I had fought Scott (Holtzman) when I was supposed to go on vacation. Sean (Shelby) called me a day after my fight and said, ‘Hey, do you want to fight Charles in five weeks?’ I think, and I said yeah, ‘Let’s do it,'” Dariush said.

“I think Charles owes me a fight, too, if you think about it. He said he had family issues. He pulled out of my fight. He called out Tony (Ferguson) while he avoided me, got the fight he wanted, and then fought for the belt. I’m not knocking him. He did his thing. He got his title shot. He got the title. Now, just own up to the person you were supposed to fight.”

Do you want to see Beneil Dariush fight Charles Oliveira next for the UFC lightweight title?