Islam Makhachev soundly defeated Charles Oliveira at UFC 280 last October to win the lightweight championship. But Oliveira’s UFC 289 performance against Beneil Dariush was enough to earn Oliveira a rematch, according to Makhachev’s coach, Javier Mendez. Heading into UFC 289, Mendez was picking Dariush to win and wanted him to emerge victorious to get the next title shot against Makhachev. “I was predicting Beneil (to win)
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Islam Makhachev’s coach believes Charles Oliveira has ‘earned’ a rematch – MMA Weekly