Beneil Dariush and UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski expected to serve as the backup fighters for UFC 280 main event
The UFC is making sure that UFC 280 goes as planned after the events that went down this month at UFC 279.
As he prepares for his own fight against Mateusz Gamrot on the same card on Oct. 22, Beneil Dariush said he’s been told to stay ready in case something happens to either one of the main event fighters.
“That’s what [my manager] Ali [Abdelaziz] told me, I was the backup for this,” Dariush revealed in an interview with MMA Fighting. “If something goes wrong, they would put me in.”
“Yeah, of course [I’ll make 155 pounds],” Dariush said. “It’s not that hard. I make 156. Last time in Texas [at UFC 262], I was pretty much 155 when I fought. What happened was, I got on the scale with the UFC scale, it’s a digital scale, it said 155.2 and I was like OK, and I had underwear on. I got on the one from the athletic commission, they use the weights on the scale, and I got on that one and he was like 156.2. I was like what? So I had to go back and cut a little bit more weight. The whole thing was stupid. So I’m planning on making 155 just like last time.”
When the idea of UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski being the back-up fighter for that encounter was brought to the attention of Dana White, he simply said “sure” – indicating that it could, in fact, happen.
The fight between Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev is one of the most highly anticipated meetings of the year, with the big question being whether or not Islam can live up to what Khabib Nurmagomedov has done before him in the division.
Prior to an ankle injury that forced him out of action, Dariush was scheduled to face Makhachev in a February title eliminator. He’s also been previously booked to face Oliveira, and that only bolsters his confidence if he does get the call to compete in the main event at the last second.
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