It appears there is a backup fighter for the UFC 280 main event matchup between Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev. However, it’s not clear who that fighter is.
About a month ago, Beneil Dariush, who is the No. 6 fighter in the official UFC lightweight rankings, told MMA Fighting that his manager, Ali Abdelaziz, told him he would serve as the backup for the Oliveira vs. Makhachev scrap. The Oliveira vs. Makhachev contest is for the vacant UFC lightweight title.
Earlier this week, UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski made an interesting claim when he said he was “locked in” as the backup for the fight.