Key to beating UFC champ Islam Makhachev? 'Meet his feints' says Beneil Dariush

Beneil Dariush thinks the only way to beat UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev is on the feet.

Makhachev (26-1 MMA, 15-1 UFC) defends his title in a rematch against Arman Tsarukyan (22-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC) Jan. 18 in the UFC 311 main event from Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif., and airs on ESPN+ pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.

Makhachev’s lone-career loss came early in his career when he was knocked out by Adriano Martins in October 2015. Since then, he has torn through competition, amassing an 14-fight win streak and notching three title defenses. Dariush doesn’t see Tsarukyan outgrappling Makhachev, but advises him to pressure the champion in order to find success on the feet.

“You have to meet his feints,” Dariush told Inside Fighting on Makhachev. “He does a lot of feints, a lot of fakes, and if you don’t meet those he is going to be able to push you back, and he’s going to be able to put pressure on you just with that. If you can’t meet that, then it’s kind of an uphill fight for you. But if you could start to meet those, you can start to see his reactions, what he wants to do.

“And ultimately to be able to beat him, you have to be very well-rounded, and I would say specialized in striking, specializing in grappling. He specializes in grappling. It’s going to cancel out, but if you’re good enough to grapple – you have good grappling but you specialize in striking – I think you can put more pressure on him.”

On the same night, Dariush (22-6-1 MMA, 16-6-1 UFC) returns in a lightweight bout against Renato Moicano (20-5-1 MMA, 12-5 UFC). He hasn’t competed since a knockout loss to Tsarukyan in December 2023.