UFC 289 Oliveira vs. Dariush Betting Tips: Preview, predictions and best bets for Vancouver co-main event

In the promotion's 32nd visit to Canada - and its first since 2019 - lightweight contenders Charles Oliveira and Beneil Dariush will throw down in Vancouver in the UFC 289 co-main event.

After having his belt controversially stripped due to a weight miss, Charles Oliveira attempted to reclaim the vacant lightweight strap against Islam Makhachev at UFC 280 last October. The Brazilian fell short, suffering an arm triangle submission defeat, but vows to put himself back in contention for another shot with a victory over the #4 ranked contender.

Beneil Dariush is enjoying an eight-fight win streak, including scalps over the likes of Drew Dober, Tony Ferguson and most recently Mateusz Gamrot on the undercard of Oliveira vs Makhachev. This weekend's contest is beautifully poised as Dariush believes he does everything that champion Islam Makhachev does, only better. A win over "Do Bronxs" would surely put "Benny" next in line for a chance at gold in this congested division.

This moment has felt like a long time coming for Dariush, who has been sitting on the outside of the lightweight bubble, awaiting his opportunity. He enters this contest on a notable run and has impressed tremendously in his last few fights, particularly against Gamorat in Abu Dhabi.

It feels as though Oliveira is at a point in his career where he is closer to descending the mountain than he is to reaching the summit. At 33-9, and after falling easily to Justin Gaethje, there's a serious question to be asked about how much longer he can keep withstanding these battles.

Beneil, on the other hand, is finding his rhythm and becoming increasingly comfortable with his own skillset. He knows what he does well and has aged dramatically in wisdom, whereas Charles' experience appears to have accumulated in damage suffered.

Dariush likes to beat people at their own game which Charles' fighting style could also facilitate a pathway to victory for the Iran-born American resident. Benny has many facets to his game and can exemplify one of them to capitalise against a lot of the fighters at this weight class.

Do Bronxs is coming off a submission loss to Makhachev, who forces you to deal with his grappling game. This is something that feels possible for Beneil to replicate, but would be a much tougher game plan for Oliveira to execute considering how unsettled and defensively ignorant he can be.

Ultimately, this bout could well be determined in the striking range once Beneil has established himself as the better wrestler. The submission/points double chance bet allows us to cover a Beneil win across two different methods of victory.

We're likely to get a largely orthodox vs southpaw duel despite Dariush's ability and willingness to switch stances. That will create problems for Oliveira, a notoriously fast starter who fades quickly, should he be his usual aggressive self and attempt to walk Beneil down.

Opportunities will appear for Dariush to throw counter shots that could potentially land damaging blows that cut or knock his opponent down. If this occurs, which is always a strong possibility given Charles' chaotic flowed approach, Benny's improved wrestling can dictate the pace.

He was extremely competitive in the wrestling exchanges with Gamorat, frequently switching his stance and not allowing Mateusz to build any momentum. The only danger in this is down to fatigue from heavy grappling, but that exhaustion will affect both fighters if this is how it plays out.

Yes, Charles is incredibly well versed in this department, boasting 21 submissions from his 33 wins, but there's every chance he won't view Beneil the same as he has other contenders. Dariush has excellent takedown defence, thwarting 15/19 attempts in his last outing, which just about lines up with his consistent figure of 80% TKD.

He can hold his own on the ground against anybody in the division, and given that three out of Charles' last four losses have been via submission, we're siding with this bolder shout at a nice looking 5/1.