Beneil Dariush says he has “no problem taking it to the ground” with Charles Oliveira at UFC 289: “Kill or be killed”

By Cole Shelton - June 6, 2023

Beneil Dariush is ready to just fight.

Beneil Dariush

Dariush was hoping to return in March against Charles Oliveira, but the fight didn’t get booked until May. However, after the Brazilian suffered a minor injury, the fight was pushed back until UFC 289 in June which was frustrating for Dariush.

“It’s definitely been frustrating, but we figure out ways to work around it and just gave me more time to enjoy my family before I revamp my camp… They said we need to wait for Charles so March turned into April, April turned into May which was official and then it got pushed back to June,” Dariush said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com.

Once the fight got moved to June, Dariush was told that if Oliveira pulled out again, he would be awarded the next title shot anyway. Yet, Dariush wanted the chance to fight Oliveira as they were booked in the past and he feels he matches up well against him.

One surprise for the fight is the fact it is not five rounds, especially with it being a title eliminator. However, Dariush says five rounds was something that was never discussed.

RELATED: Beneil Dariush confident he will dominate Charles Oliveira at UFC 289.

“It never really came up. With a guy like Charles, you don’t really need five rounds,” Dariush said. “He either kills or is killed within three rounds, I don’t think we need five rounds, but I wouldn’t mind five rounds. With me and Charles, we don’t hide anything, we are going to go out there and do our thing.”

As Beneil Dariush says, he doesn’t think five rounds would have mattered as he believes with the way he and Charles Oliveira fight, there will still be a stoppage at UFC 289. He knows Oliveira has a good ground game, but Dariush isn’t scared to go to the mat with him, and on the feet, Dariush has confidence in his power.

Putting all that together, and with the way Oliveira fights, Dariush expects to get a stoppage win for the biggest victory of his career.

“Ideally he will want to be on top, he will want to take me down and be on top,” Dariush said. “I think the ideal situation for Charles (is to be on top). Stand up and get me to the ground, that will be his ideal situation… I have no problem taking it to the ground. If the fight ends up on the ground, great, if the fight stays standing, great. It’s going to be my way either way… That is how I see it playing out, kill or be killed. Either I end up killing Charles in this fight or he kills me, there is no other way around me.”

If Dariush does get the stoppage win at UFC 289, he says the UFC has promised a title shot next time out which will be special for him.

“It will be wild; it will be 10 years in the UFC to finally get a title shot. I don’t know how long Bisping took, or other guys took, but that is quite a while for me,” Dariush concluded.

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM


Topics:

Beneil Dariush Charles Oliveira Exclusive MMA Interviews UFC