Beneil Dariush Talks BMF Title Fight on Bohnfire

Beneil Dariush (23-8-1 MMA, 17-8-1 UFC) hasn't fought in the sport's No. 1 promotion since the night of May 2. That spring Saturday night in Perth, the lightweight combatant fought Quillan Salkilld (13-1 MMA, 6-0 UFC), going down in defeat by way of first-round knockout.

As of yet, Beneil Dariush has no firm date set for his next fight. While he remains on the sidelines for now, he will be watching what transpires on the night of Dec. 12 inside T-Mobile Arena with interest.

That night, the UFC's 2026 schedule of events will come to a close with UFC 335. At the top of the bill on the promotion's finale will be a battle for the symbolic BMF Championship in Dariush's weight class. No. 3 contender and incumbent BMF Champion Charles Oliveira (37-11, 1 NC MMA, 25-11, 1 NC UFC) will put his title at risk against challenger and No. 2 featherweight contender Diego Lopes (28-8 MMA, 7-3 UFC.)

Beneil Dariush Talks Upcoming BMF Championship Fight on The Bohnfire

Earlier Tuesday, Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie welcomed Beneil Dariush as a guest of The Bohnfire. During the episode, Dariush discussed a variety of topics, the BMF title fight included.

While Dariush mentioned that Diego Lopes does have the gameplan necessary to wrest the symbolic championship away from Charles Oliveira, he also said that the titleholder will give the challenger fits on fight night.

"The problem here is, I think it's going to be Charles Oliveira's wrestling," Beneil Dariush said. "I think the thing that's going to stand out the most is gong to be Charles' wrestling, because I think in jiu-jitsu and in striking, they're quite even, they're very similar. In the wrestling, I think Charles is a few notches above."

Beneil Dariush on Ground Game Ahead of BMF Title Fight

Building off of his earlier points, Dariush is of the mindset that the BMF Championship contest will be decided when and if the action goes to the mat.

"I think what we'll get on the ground is much more scrambling, absolutely," he continued. "I don't see Charles being at a disadvantage, even in the scrambles. I just see Charles being on top is basically the way I see it."

He drew on his previous experiences from fighting Oliveira in the spring of 2023. The latter won by first-round knockout with ground and pound strikes.

"When we wrestled for a little bit, he was very physically strong," Dariush recalled. "The stuff he was doing was really good. He gets overaggressive and he made that mistake with me, that's why he lost the takedown. I think he would have gotten the takedown if he tried something simpler. He went for a big throw and then ended up on his back."