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Beneil Dariush has named Charles Oliveira as the fighter he believes has the best offense in the lightweight division. Dariush admitted that while sometimes it is reckless, Oliveira's arsenal of tools and his UFC finishing record speak for themselves.
In an interview with Brett Okamoto for ESPN MMA, Dariush praised the former lightweight champion:
"If we're talking about Charles then we have to talk about style. If we're talking about offense, I don't know anybody who is more offensive than him. I don't think I've ever seen anyone more offensive than Charles. He's reckless in some ways but he makes it work. It's an incredible style."
Dariush also believes the Brazilian will be his toughest opponent should they meet inside the octagon.
His words of praise are not without base. Charles Oliveira has set multiple records inside the UFC octagon. The Sao Paulo native is tied for the record for the most post-fight bonuses (18) in UFC history with Donald Cerrone. The Brazilian also holds the record for the most finishes (19) and the most submissions (16) in the organization's history. On top of that, 'do Bronx' is the record holder for the most Performance of the Night awards (12).
Neither Beneil Dariush nor Charles Oliveira have lost a fight since 2018. Oliveira's 11-fight winning streak took him to the lightweight title. Dariush will be hoping his impressive seven-fight streak is enough to face the Brazilian for the vacant lightweight championship.
Watch Beneil Dariush's interview on ESPN MMA here:
Beneil Dariush compares Charles Oliveira to Khabib Nurmagomedov
In the same interview with Brett Okamoto, Dariush was asked his thoughts on the comparisons between Oliveira and Khabib Nurmagomedov. 'The Eagle' retired undefeated in 2020 and is widely considered the greatest UFC lightweight of all time.
The 33-year-old Iranian-born American had this to say:
"It's hard to say man because it would be fun to watch him [Oliveira] versus Khabib. He's all offense. 100% offense. While Khabib, most people won't realize, he had a ton of defense in this game. It's the reason he never got hit. It's the reason why he could find his grappling position so well. There's this idea of position before submission in jiu-jitsu, he had this concept down for MMA. He had this concept of position before damage. For me, it's hard to put Charles into that same level."
There has been much fan speculation about the return of Khabib Nurmagomedov to the UFC octagon. Even Daniel Cormier thinks a victory for Oliveira over Islam Makhachev could tempt the Russian great out of retirement.
