As a result, the Brazilian team rejected this offer, citing emotional stress and lack of time to prepare as the reason for refusal.
This was announced in the next episode of the SUPER LUTAS podcast by the Brazilian coach Diego Lima. According to the coach, their plan is to return to training in January and have the next fight in March.
“We have to act wisely and choose an opponent that will bring us closer to the belt,” said the Brazilian specialist. “Immediate revenge would be a difficult task for us, associated with emotional stress. I think that it makes sense to fight with Benil Dariush. He has an impressive winning streak. We fought with Poirier, Chandler and Gaethje, but not with Dariush, and he goes undefeated. A good win over him would take us straight to the title. I need to think it over again, but I think Benil is a good choice.”
On October 22 at UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi, Islam Makhachev won the vacant UFC lightweight championship belt by finishing Charles Oliveira by arm triangle choke in the second round, and on February 12 at UFC 284 in Perth, the Russian will defend his title against Australian Alexander Volkanovski, who is the champion in the featherweight category.