Jason High out of UFC Fight Night 35, Charlie Brenneman returns to meet Beneil Dariush
After 16 months away from the UFC, Charlie Brenneman will return later this month for a short-notice fight against Beneil Dariush.
Brenneman (19-5 MMA, 4-4 UFC) will step in for Jason High (18-4 MMA, 2-2 UFC) to fight Dariush (6-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) in a lightweight bout at UFC Fight Night 35.
High late Wednesday tweeted that a ruptured appendix and subsequent surgery would take him out of the fight, and Dariush later tweeted word of the booking. A person with knowledge of the matchup confirmed the fight to MMAjunkie. The person spoke on condition of anonymity since the fight has not yet been officially announced.
UFC Fight Night 35 takes place Jan. 15 at Arena at Gwinnett Center in Duluth, Ga. The event’s main card airs on FOX Sports 1 following four prelims on the same channel and a pair of prelims on UFC Fight Pass, the promotion’s new digital network. Brenneman vs. Dariush is part of the main card.
The UFC cut Brenneman after a 1-3 stretch that included stoppage losses to Anthony Johnson, Erick Silva and Kyle Noke, the latter at UFC 152 in September 2012. But soon after, he dropped to lightweight and went on a 4-0 run with three submission wins in regional competition. In October, he stopped Kyle Baker in the second round to win the Cage Fury Fighting Championships lightweight title, and that appears to have been enough to get the return call from the UFC.
Coincidentally, the AMA Fight Club-based Brenneman made his UFC debut in March 2010 with a decision win over High. After a loss to Johny Hendricks, he won back-to-back fights over Amilcar Alves and Rick Story before losing to Johnson. All four of his UFC wins have been by decision while all four of his losses have been by stoppage.
Dariush, a 24-year-old who trains with Wanderlei Silva in Las Vegas, has five of his six pro wins by stoppage, including a second-round knockout in May and a 36-second armbar submission win in January, both under the Respect in the Cage banner in his home state of California.
This particular fight has been a revolving door. The original fight booking was High vs. Adlan Amagov, but Amagov fell off with an injury and was replaced by Dariush. Now High steps aside for Brenneman.
With the change, the new UFC Fight Night 35 lineup includes:
MAIN CARD (FOX Sports 1, 7 p.m. ET)
Luke Rockhold vs. Constantinos Philippou
Lorenz Larkin vs. Brad Tavares
Charlie Brenneman vs. Beneil Dariush
T.J. Dillashaw vs. Mike Easton
Derek Brunson vs. Yoel Romero
Cole Miller vs. Sam Sicilia
PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX Sports 1, 5 p.m. ET)
Justin Edwards vs. Ramsey Nijem
Elias Silverio vs. Isaac Vallie-Flagg
John Moraga vs. Dustin Ortiz
Brian Houston vs. Trevor Smith
PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass, 4 p.m. ET)
Vinc Pichel vs. Garett Whiteley
Alptekin Ozkilic vs. Louis Smolka
