Former champ Charles Oliveira returns at UFC 288 to face Beneil Dariush
A huge UFC lightweight matchup with potential title implications is set to take place in May.
At UFC 288, former lightweight champion Charles Oliveira will meet fellow contender Beneil Dariush. The pay-per-view event takes place May 6, but does not yet have a confirmed venue or location.
Dariush (22-4-1 MMA, 16-4-1 UFC) recently told MMA Junkie he received a bout agreement for the matchup, and Tuesday, Oliveira (33-9 MMA, 21-9 UFC) announced the fight on Instagram. MMA Junkie has confirmed both parties have signed to make the bout official. Club De Las MMA first reported the bout.
Oliveira, 33, will look to rebound from a vacant title challenge loss to Islam Makhachev at UFC 280, which snapped an 11-fight winning streak. Although Oliveira won his previous meeting against Justin Gaethje, he lost the title on the scale, weighing in one-half-pound over the championship limit. Oliveira won the title at UFC 262 by stopping Michael Chandler and defended in a submission victory over Dustin Poirier at UFC 269.
The former champ Oliveira currently holds the No. 2 spot in the latest USA TODAY SPORTS/MMA Junkie lightweight rankings, with Dariush not far behind at No. 5.
Dariush, 33, has been on fire since 2018. The 21-fight UFC veteran has won eight straight, including stoppages of Drew Dober, Frank Camacho, Drakkar Klose and Scott Holtzman. His two previous appearances were unanimous decision wins over former interim champ Tony Ferguson and Mateusz Gamrot.