UFC middleweight contender Marvin Vettori believes there is one lightweight fighter who could give Islam Makhachev “a lot of problems.”

Vettori trains at Kings MMA alongside Beneil Dariush, who is one of the top-ranked lightweights in the sport. Speaking to Mike Swick recently on his podcast, Vettori said that he believes Dariush is the one man who can give Makhachev problems. Although Vettori admitted that Makhachev is a great fighter, he believes Dariush has the style to beat him.

“Islam is a great guy. I had the chance to train with him one time in Vegas actually. He’s a hell of a fighter for sure. But there’s one guy, there’s one guy that will give him a lot of problems. I don’t know if I want to see this fight now or when either of them is champ. That guy is my teammate, and it’s Benel Dariush. That’d be a crazy fight. I can’t wait to see that eventually,” Vettori said (via SportsKeeda).

Both Dariush and Makhachev are ranked in the top-five of the UFC lightweight division at the moment and neither of them has a fight lined up. Given that Justin Gaethje appears to be the next man in line to fight for the UFC lightweight title after Charles Oliveira and Dustin Poirier settle their differences at UFC 269 in December, both Dariush and Makhachev need to fight. Perhaps Vettori is trying to allude to a possible matchup between these two as Dariush vs. Makhachev makes a lot of sense based on the rankings and based on the fact neither of them has a fight currently booked. It will be interesting to see what happens if the fight does happen and if Dariush can give Makhachev issues.

Do you agree with Marvin Vettori that Beneil Dariush could be the one to give Islam Makhachev problems inside the Octagon?