Dariush: Islam Makhachev ‘trying to run off to other divisions’ to escape weight cut, would lose anyway

UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards had yet to leave the cage after his UFC 286 title defense over longtime rival Kamaru Usman and reigning lightweight kingpin Islam Makhachev was already calling for a “champ champ” fight against “Rocky,” a request that fell on deaf ears after the return of Colby Covington.

Beneil Dariush was not impressed.

“I don’t understand,” Dariush told Submission Radio. “Like, what about title defenses? I don’t know what’s going on with him. Why? Maybe he’s having a hard time making weight at 155 and he’s just like, ‘eh, let’s just go to 170 and relax’. Honestly, I don’t get it. But I think he needs to focus on his division. There’s a lot of good fighters in his division. Maybe, in my opinion, the best division. So, I don’t know why he’s trying to run off to other divisions.”

Dariush is scheduled to collide with former lightweight champion Charles Oliveira as part of the UFC 288 pay-per-view (PPV) card this May in Newark, with the winner moving on to challenge for the 155-pound title. That’s assuming Makhachev — who can’t stop talking about welterweight — is still around by that time.

“Someone showed that to me and I just rolled my eyes and I was like, guys, get this outta my face,” Dariush continued. “It was very frustrating at that moment, and I just… I don’t know what goes through these guys’ mind. But, I get it. Like, you work so hard to get this belt, now you don’t wanna risk it and lose it, right? He went to Australia, he did his thing and almost lost the belt, right? The fight was very close, and now he’s thinking to himself, ‘maybe I’ll put myself in Volkanovski’s shoes and not risk my belt and go fight for another belt’.”

The weight-challenged Makhachev defeated Oliveira to capture the crown at UFC 280 last Oct. in Abu Dhabi and for his first title defense, took on current 145-pound titleholder Alex Volkanovski at UFC 284 in Perth. Makhachev secured a close decision win after five rounds of back-and-forth action.

“I get the mindset,” Dariush said. “You know, you have a big reward and less risk. But this is not how you keep divisions active. This is not how you make sure the divisions are doing what they need to be doing. And like, at the rate these title fights are happening, man, I feel like it’s gonna take forever to get the new guys in. There’s all these guys waiting at the door, but like, this is the reason why we’re not fighting. A lot of these guys are not fighting.”

For more on Dariush’s upcoming fight against Oliveira click here and here.