Chael Sonnen does not see Charles Oliveira winning a single round against Beneil Dariush on Saturday night.
‘Do Bronx’ will return to the Octagon at UFC 289 for the first time since being handed a one-sided submission loss at the hands of reigning lightweight world champion Islam Makhachev in October. Looking to bounce back and potentially earn himself another opportunity to reclaim the 155-pound crown, Oliveira is set to square off with streaking lightweight contender Beneil Dariush.
Dariush goes into the bout as a moderate favorite, hovering around -150 on most sportsbooks. But if you ask Chael Sonnen, things will be much more decisive in Saturday’s co-main event.
“I officially predict that we have not heard the last of this fight, that the X’s and O’s are not overly close. I officially predict Charles Oliveira does not win a round,” Sonnen predicted during a recent episode of his Beyond the Fight YouTube series. “I’m not looking to be a jerk. I think Oliveira is just a wonderful fighter, this is another category. There are many fighters that believe Dariush is going to beat Islam.”
“If Benny’s as good as people say he is, and we never know that’s why we have to go to the fight, but if he is… Islam vs Charles was not competitive, not remotely competitive. It was uncompetitive to the point I don’t believe this is a number one contender’s match” (h/t MiddleEasy).
Oliveira and Dariush are ready to bring the intensity to #UFC289
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— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) June 9, 2023
Chael Sonnen Believes Charles Oliveira Wants Nothing to Do with Islam Makhachev
Beneil Dariush rides into the Great White North on the back of an eight-fight win streak dating back to 2018, including victories against Tony Ferguson and Mateusz Gamrot in his last two appearances. With a win over ‘Do Bronx’ at UFC 289, Dariush will be all but guaranteed his first crack at UFC gold. That task might be easier than expected according to Chael Sonnen, who suspects Oliveira wants no piece of a rematch with Islam Makhachev and will bring his less-than-best as a result.
“The fact that we’re told Charles was offered a rematch with Islam and turned it down lets us know that at least in that moment that wasn’t the case,” Sonnen continued. “There’s nothing wrong with what Oliveira is saying. You’ve got to make a case for you. You got to make your stand somewhere, be careful what you let into your bubble. I don’t have any problem with any of it but as an outsider looking in, I don’t believe it. I also don’t believe that he believes it. It puts you in a very interesting spot.
“Based on everything we know, we really only know one thing. Charles has made it very clear he does not want to fight Islam. Charles didn’t want to fight Islam the first time because of the location… There are things that Charles doesn’t want so how do you get the motivation to beat Benny when your reward is a match with a guy you don’t want to fight?”
UFC 289 emanates from Rogers Arena in Vancouver. The event is scheduled to be headlined by a women’s bantamweight world title fight as reigning champion Amanda Nunes defends her crown against Mexico’s Irene Aldana.
Do you agree with Chael Sonnen’s assessment of the UFC 289 co-main event?