Beneil Dariush reveals he asked to fight Arman Tsarykuan after Charles Oliveira pulled out of UFC 288 fight

Beneil Dariush wanted to remain on the UFC 288 card and had an opponent in mind.

Dariush had hoped to face Charles Oliveira at March’s pay-per-view event, but the fight wasn’t booked until UFC 288 in May. However, just under a month out, it was revealed Oliveira had suffered a minor injury and the fight would be pushed back to UFC 289 in June.

Yet, before the fight was postponed, Dariush had a meeting with promotional officials and asked to face Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 288 so he could remain on the card. Unfortunately, the UFC wasn’t interested in that fight and wanted to keep the bout with Oliveira intact.

“Yes. So, I didn’t know at the time that Moicano was out. But, when I walked into the UFC office I think it was on a Wednesday, I was trying to figure out how to make this happen,” Dariush said to Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com. “At the time, I was three-and-a-half weeks out from my fight. I was talking to the UFC and they said they were going to have to push us back. At this point, I was like ‘why not just give me a title shot? I’ve proven myself to be a number one contender.’ They disagreed. So, one of the things I said, was I wanted to stay on the May 6 card and why don’t you get someone to fight Moicano and I’ll fight Arman Tsarukyan.

“They were a little bit surprised by that when I said that but they thought about it and didn’t go in that direction either. Obviously, my manager and my coaches were not happy with me saying that stuff,” Dariush continued. “He told me before we went into the meeting, please don’t say anything. But, at that time I was super frustrated so I brought it up.”

Ultimately, Tsarukyan also never received a replacement for Moicano and will now fight unranked Joaquim Silva on June 17. As for Dariush, he is set to face Charles Oliveira at UFC 289, and should he win, it is expected he will finally secure a title shot.