A potential No. 1 contender fight in the lightweight division has been agreed upon for an upcoming UFC Fight Night in February.
Beneil Dariush and Islam Makhachev are expected to meet in the headliner set for five rounds, per Brett Okamoto of ESPN. A location and venue for the event scheduled for Feb. 26 have not been determined yet. Ali Abdelaziz — manager of Dariush and Makhachev — has confirmed the fight and told Okamoto that the winner would indeed challenge for the lightweight championship in the near future.
Dariush will enter the fight on a seven-fight win streak that includes finishes over Drew Dober, Frank Camacho, Drakkar Klose and Scott Holtzman.