Daniel Cormier provided his detailed breakdown of the UFC 289 co-main event matchup between Charles Oliveira and Beneil Dariush.
On June 10, Dariush and Oliveira look to capitalize on a massive opportunity and most likely earn a lightweight title shot. The matchup between top-five ranked UFC fighters has a handful of factors, making it arguably the most intriguing UFC 289 matchup.
During the latest episode of DC & RC, Cormier began his breakdown by saying:
“This weekend, he [Dariush] has a fight against Charles Oliveira who would seem to match up with him as perfect as you could imagine… It’s gonna be strategic also because Dariush is a tremendous grappler, he’s a black belt. Charles Oliveira is the most accomplished submission artist in UFC history. Beneil Dariush, while he can strike, and he possesses knockout power, he isn’t as crisp, he isn’t as tight at Charles Oliveira in the standup.”
Oliveira last fought in October 2022, when his UFC lightweight title was taken by Islam Makhachev. ‘Do Bronx’ looks to bounce back and prove why he deserves a chance to regain his throne against Makhachev.
Meanwhile, ‘Benny’ is coming off a unanimous decision win against Mateusz Gamrot in October 2022. The win against Gamrot extended Dariush’s win streak to eight. The 34-year-old hopes to finish his long journey to a UFC title shot by making a statement against Oliveira.
Daniel Cormier breaks down how Beneil Dariush’s grappling factor can be a problem for Charles Oliveira
Charles Oliveira’s title run featured back-to-back submission wins against Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje. One of the reasons elite fighters struggled against Oliveira was they were cautious to go to the ground after knocking him down.
During the same podcast episode, Daniel Cormier discussed how Beneil Dariush’s willingness to grapple with Oliveira could be a primary factor in the UFC 289 co-main event:
“This fight has so many questions on the Dariush side, but it also has questions on the Oliveira side. How does Oliveira bounce back from the loss to Islam Makhachev? One of Oliveira’s biggest advantages, I believe, was when he was fighting guys like Michael Chandler, Dustin Poirier, Justin Gaethje, they would knock him down, but they wouldn’t follow him to the ground because it was too dangerous.”
Cormier continued by saying:
“He’s [Oliveira] so good in the jiu-jitsu. Well, you saw Islam follow him to the ground and Islam actually submitted him. Beneil Dariush is that too. Beneil Dariush will not be afraid to follow him to the ground, so how does Oliveira approach this fight in a more controlled way to where he doesn’t get himself hurt and then trying to pull Dariush into some sort of trap? This is a phenomenal matchup, and this one here is going to be, or at least I can predict that this should be the Fight of the Night come this weekend.”
Oliveira and Dariush have had extra time to prepare for each other. The elite lightweights were supposed to fight on May 6 before Oliveira pulled out with an injury. They will finally meet in a high-stakes matchup inside the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, Canada.
