Charles Oliveira reminded everyone of what made him a championship-level fighter at UFC 289, knocking out Beneil Dariush in the first round.
UFC 289’s co-main event had the potential of a lightweight title shot on the line, though Dana White had somewhat waffled on that during Thursday’s pre-fight press conference. No matter. Regardless of the outcome, one of Charles Oliveira and Beneil Dariush would be a hair’s breadth away from fighting for gold following their bout in Vancouver.
Oliveira for his part was looking to bounce back from the loss of his belt to Islam Makhachev, while Dariush, like “Do Bronx” before him, was taking the long way to title contention, having won eight straight fights already.
In round one, Dariush worked the leg kicks early in an attempt to set the high kick up himself, but Oliveira began throwing high kicks early. He landed one through the guard that had the crowd in a frenzy, but then the ground game took over with Dariush ending up on top.
After not being able to land too much damage from top, Dariush stood up and tried to drop down to a more favorable position, but Oliveira was able to get his guard back quickly. Dariush tried to stand up again, but Oliveira tripped him back down.
The former lightweight champion was very comfortable off his back until he decided to stand back up and strike with Dariush. That’s when the fight changed.
Another head kick put Dariush on skates, Oliveira swarmed, and finished the fight via TKO successfully stating his case for a rematch with champion Islam Makhachev.
Charles Oliveira def. Beneil Dariush via TKO (Punches) in Round 1 (4:10)
