A lightweight matchup between Charles Oliveira and Beneil Dariush is set as the co-main event for UFC 289 in Canada.
A pivotal lightweight matchup between Charles Oliveira and Beneil Dariush is now set for UFC 289 in Canada. UFC President Dana White confirmed on Thursday that the lightweight fight, which was once scheduled to co-headline UFC 288, will now serve as the co-main event for UFC 289. The event will take place on June 10 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver. UFC 289 is headlined by a trilogy between two-division champ Amanda Nunes and Julianna Pena, who hopes to recapture the bantamweight title she wrested from Nunes this past year before losing a rematch.
In an interview, Oliveira said the fight with Dariush could be moved to UFC 289, explaining that an injury forced him to withdraw from UFC 288, set for May 6 in Newark, N.J. White also announced a welterweight fight between Belal Muhammad and Gilbert Burns will take the co-main spot at UFC 288. Dariush, the No. 3 ranked lightweight, inquired with the UFC about getting a title shot against champ Islam Makhachev with No. 2 Oliveira’s withdrawal. However, he revealed that the promotion was saving the lightweight champ to defend his belt in October in Abu Dhabi.
The winner of the new UFC 289 co-main event will be well positioned to fight for the belt, according to White. “I love this fight, and it has huge title implications in the lightweight division,” he said. The full card for UFC 289 includes Amanda Nunes vs. Julianna Pena, Charles Oliveira vs. Beneil Dariush, Stephen Thompson vs. Michel Pereira, Miranda Maverick vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius, Eryk Anders vs. Marc-Andre Barriault, Diana Belbita vs. Maria Oliveira, Matt Schnell vs. David Dvorak, Hakeem Dawodu vs. Lucas Almeida, Khalil Rountree vs. Chris Daukaus, Kyle Nelson vs. Blake Bilder, Aiemann Zahabi vs. Aoriqileng, Nassourdine Imavov vs. Chris Curtis, and Dan Ige vs. Nate Landwehr.