An important UFC lightweight fight is headed to International Fight Week.
Top-10 ranked contenders Beneil Dariush and Renato Moicano have been aligned for awhile but will finally square off at UFC 317 on June 28 from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. UFC CEO Dana White announced the news, along with other fight bookings, Tuesday on Instagram.
Moicano (20-6-1 MMA, 12-6 UFC) aims to bounce back from a failed title shot vs. Islam Makhachev in January. Moicano was not the expected title challenger until the day of weigh-ins after Arman Tsarukyan withdrew from the UFC 311 pay-per-view main event due to injury. Moicano lost by first-round submission. The defeat snapped a four-fight winning streak.
Unfortunately for Dariush (22-6-1 MMA, 16-6-1 UFC), he was left as the odd man out, who was scheduled to fight Moicano. He has not competed since the last-minute cancellation. Dariush enters the fight eager to snap a two-fight skid, consisting of losses to Charles Oliveira and Tsarukyan.
The latest UFC 317 lineup includes:
- Charles Oliveira vs. Ilia Topuria – for vacant lightweight title
- Champ Alexandre Pantoja vs. Kai Kara-France – for flyweight title
- Paulo Costa vs. Roman Kopylov
- Beneil Dariush vs. Renato Moicano
- Jhonata Diniz vs. Justin Tafa
- Brandon Royval vs. Manel Kape
- Jack Hermansson vs. Gregory Rodrigues
- Viviane Araujo vs. Tracy Cortez
