Charles Oliveira Confirms Negotiations for Beneil Dariush Match

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight king Charles Oliveira is ready to get back in the game.

Four months after losing his 155-pound title to Islam Makhachev, Oliveira is expecting to return to the Octagon within a few months. Having trekked to Perth, Australia, to corner teammate Elves Brener Oliveira in his UFC debut opposite Zubaira Tukhugov, the ex-champ spoke with Sherdog about his plans. A recent interview with The Schmo brought to light a possible pairing with Beneil Dariush, and Oliveira confirmed that fight is in the works.

“It’s true that we are negotiating to face Dariush, who is coming from a gigantic sequence of wins,” Oliveira admitted. “My managers Jorge Patino and Diego Lima are taking care of that. As I said in other interviews, that’s a moment where we have to think with reason not emotion. I must fight the one who will take me to the title shot. My plan is [to] fight April or May, and fight again for the belt by the end of the year [against] the winner of [Alexander] Volkanovski and Makhachev.”

When asked about the rumor that he traveled to Perth to also serve as the reserve fighter in case Volkanovski or Makhachev couldn’t fight, Oliveira poured cold water on it.

"No way,” Oliveira exclaimed with a laugh. “I just weighed 187 pounds this Wednesday. I came here to help my teammate and do some jobs for the UFC.”

The former champ hopes that within the end of the year, he will take on one of the winners of the UFC 284 main event. Breaking down that fight, however, was a tough ask for the Brazilian.

“It’s a style matchup,” Oliveira noted. “Volkanovski is better standing up, and defends well [against] throws, if he mixes his calf kicks with his speed and in-and-out game, he may knock out Makhachev. But if Islam can grapple him and take him down, imposing his ground-and-pound and submissions, he must win. It will be a question of who will be able to impose his game.”

The fight against Dariush is not yet official, as the parties are still negotiating, but it appears to be the one Oliveira likes most. He believes that fighting Dariush would provide thrilling action to the fans, and he can’t say no to that.

“Master Rafael Cordeiro gave an interview to you where he said that if we fight, it would be like a real Chute Boxe sparring [session] opened to the public. I have to agree with him. We both don’t need to say sh-- about opponents, we both always fight to [the finish], walking forward all the time and delivering great fights for the fans. If this fight happens, we will show that the real Chute Boxe spirit is alive,” Oliveira concluded.