Alexander Volkanovski Blames Himself for Beneil Dariush’s UFC Shot
Alexander Volkanovski says he feels like it is his fault that beneil dariush never got a UFC title fight. Volkanovski said Dariush should have fought for titles, and he believes he ended up taking the spot Dariush probably would have had.
“I really do like Dariush,” Volkanovski said in a video on his YouTube channel. “I feel for him. … He should have fought for titles, and then that was when I obviously deserved my chance at champ-champ.”
Volkanovski’s path
Volkanovski said Dariush would have been backup and then next if it wasn’t for him. He added, “He would have been backup, he would have been next if it wasn’t me, and then sh*t, I feel like it’s my fault that he never got that title fight.”
The comments come back to a lightweight picture that shifted while Volkanovski chased 155-pound gold. He challenged Islam Makhachev twice for the title, while Dariush appeared to be on the verge of a title shot before his run unraveled.
Dariush’s winning streak
Dariush built an eight-fight winning streak within four years in the lightweight division before the slide started. That run ended in June 2023, when Charles Oliveira stopped him with a first-round TKO loss.
Volkanovski said Dariush “deserved a title fight at that time,” and added, “He was meant to pretty much get it after that, but he ended up losing and sort of went south from there.” Dariush has gone 1-3 in his last four outings, a stretch that has kept him outside the title picture he once looked ready to enter.
UFC Perth on Saturday
Dariush now turns to Quillan Salkilld at UFC Perth on Saturday. He will try to rebound after a 16-second knockout loss to Benoit Saint Denis back in Nov. 2025, another hard turn in a lightweight career that once pointed toward a championship opportunity.
Volkanovski’s comments do not change the record, but they do put a name to the break in Dariush’s rise. One fighter says he got in the way; the other now has a chance to start moving back toward the level he was chasing when the division opened around him.
