Beneil Dariush has an interesting pick for the UFC lightweight who has the best chance of dethroning Islam Makhachev.
Makhachev (27-1 MMA, 16-1 UFC) retained his lightweight title when he submitted Renato Moicano in Round 1 of their UFC 311 headliner at Intuit Dome. He was originally scheduled to face Arman Tsarukyan, who pulled out just one day before their fight due to a back injury.
Makhachev already holds wins over four of the top six ranked UFC lightweights. While Dariush thinks Tsarukyan would have been a stern test for Makhachev, he sees Max Holloway’s attributes posing problems.
“You know who would be interesting is Max Holloway,” Dariush told MMA on Sirius XM. “I think Max Holloway could be an interesting fight for Makhachev because he’s hard to hold, he has excellent cardio and he throws a lot of volume, and I think these are things that could be difficult for Makhachev.
“Then, interestingly enough, if you watch the fight with Merab (Dvalishvili), he has excellent cardio and he was able to do so much with that excellent cardio (vs. Nurmagomedov). I don’t remember the last time I saw Holloway in the fourth or the fifth round and he’s slowing down. So I think he has something similar.”
Holloway (26-8 MMA, 22-8 UFC) made good in his lightweight return when he put on a striking clinic against Justin Gaethje, before knocking him out with a second left at UFC 300. He returned to featherweight the fight after, but was knocked out by champion Ilia Topuria at UFC 308.
Dariush (22-6-1 MMA, 16-6 UFC) is yet to fight Makhachev, but is on a two-fight losing skid. After Tsarukyan withdrew from UFC 311, Dariush was cutting weight in hopes of facing Makhachev, but the promotion opted to go with his opponent Moicano instead.
