If Alexander Volkanovski does win the lightweight title he plans of staying very active.
Over the last few weeks, there have been some major shifts in the UFC lightweight division. It went from there being no champion at the helm to now Islam Makhachev holding the strap and already having his next fight set. There have been times when a fighter wins a title and then does not fight for a year or more, that is not the case this time. Makhachev could be back in the Octagon in just four months.
Coming into UFC 280 both Makhachev and Charles Oliveira knew that they would be facing featherweight champion and pound-for-pound king Alexander Volkanovski if they won. Makhachev got the better of Oliveira and has now signed his fate to face Volkanovski, most likely in Perth, Australia in February. The promise of Volkanovski stepping up to the lightweight division is a fairly new revolution, one that does not sit well with title contender Beniel Dariush. Dariush has expressed his fears that with Volkanovski potential winning the 155-pound belt there could be a hold-up in the division.
Alexander Volkanovski puts Beneil Dariush’s fears to rest and promises to stay active
If Volkanovski were to win the lightweight title by defeating Makhachev, he would not give up his featherweight strap, instead, he plans to defend both. To put Dariush’s fears to rest, Volkanovski promises to face him in his first title defense. He spoke to Submission Radio about this.
“I actually like Beneil. One of the nicest human beings you ever meet, nothing but respect to him. He’s even talking about, if I’m next he’ll go fight whoever else he can. If he’s there on the sidelines, I’ll go take that belt and tell him, ‘Hey, couple of months, let’s do, where are we doing it?’ You know, but he love to fight,” he said. “And I love that. If he does fight on that card and I get that belt, I’ll fight him a couple of months after if I have to. Because he deserves that.”
Dariush is currently ranked fourth in the lightweight division and has won eight fights in a row. Before Volkanovski was thrown into the mix it seemed that Dariush would be the next likely title contender. Now he may need to take another fight in the meantime.
