After knocking out Max Holloway—whose actual weight class could be lightweight—Ilia Topuria has put the UFC’s 155-lb division on notice, especially the champion Islam Makhachev. But it seems, ‘El Matador’ might have to earn his stripes by fighting a top contender before getting a crack at the title. Problem is, who wants to face him? Especially after he’s KO’d some of the best in the organization, including a lightweight bout in 2022 against Jai Herbert, who he sent to the shadow realm. Well, one ex-title contender is up for the task, and his name is Beneil Dariush.
During a recent conversation with Submission Radio, ‘Benny’ revealed, “To be honest with you, bro, like no one seems to want to fight Ilia Topuria, if that’s an option. I take that fight. Bro, he’s such a great fighter. Like, what an opportunity. I’d love to fight him.” But the interviewer, Dennis Shkuratov, was not satisfied. He wanted the Iranian-American fighter to break down the approach against Ilia Topuria. ‘Benny’ knows that he had to mitigate the power Topuria has in his hands. But the major problem against the Spaniard is his ability to use his well-roundedness to be unpredictable.
Dariush pointed out how Topuria managed to defeat Max Holloway and Alexander Volkanovski in his previous 2 fights. Well, when his opponents were worried about his boxing, the Spaniard kicked them relentlessly and forced his opponents to break their guard. That’s when he went in with his boxing and dropped Holloway and Volkanovski. Even though Holloway and ‘The Great’ were fast with their strikes, it was Topuria’s precision and power that got him the wins.
According to Dariush, Dana White should indeed pit him together against the Georgian-Spanish fighter. He said, “So you have to be aware where the danger is. And I think the danger is everywhere when you fight a guy like that and, I think I am well-rounded enough to beat him. It’s just it’s going to be about the opportunity. Am I gonna get that opportunity?”
Now the question that remains is whether Ilia Topuria will agree to fight Beneil Dariush or not. Well, back in October 2024, Dariush had a completely different matchup ready for the former featherweight champion. Let’s see that he said last year.
Dariush wanted Ilia Topuria to fight Arman Tsarukyan at lightweight
Earlier in October 2024, Dariush had a brief conversation with David Schmulenson, popularly known as The Schmo. That was also the time Ilia Topuria defended his title against Max Holloway and expressed his interest in moving up for another title.
As per Dariush, Topuria should have been paired with Arman Tsarukyan. He said, “Maybe it’s Topuria [against Arman Tsarukyan]. If Ilia is coming up, that might be the fight they put together. If Ilia appears, they may stage a fight.” Well, fighting the number one contender would indeed put him closer to the lightweight title shot.
However, Topuria wanted the championship fight against Makhachev right away. That was the only reason why he jumped to the lightweight division, didn’t he? One of the Spaniard’s close mates said on TASS, “Ilia wants a championship fight. He will not fight for the status of a contender with Tsarukyan or anyone else.” This somehow put Dariush on the sidelines, as well. So, who does he need to fight in order to prove himself worthy of the lightweight title shot?
On the other hand, there are fighters like the #2 lightweight contender Charles Oliveira, or the #3 lightweight rank holder, Justin Gaethje. Tsarukyan, who was set to fight Makhachev at UFC 311, pulled out of the bout because of his back injury. And that was the thing that cost him his title shot. Now, he has to join Topuria and compete for lightweight title contention.
Who do you think will Ilia Topuria end up fighting? Will it be Beneil Dariush, Arman Tsaruksyan, or another top lightweight? Let us know your thoughts in the comment down below.
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