Beneil Dariush is a grappler at heart. That means even when he meets fellow grappler Islam Makhachev in a UFC main event in February.

Islam Makhachev has a solid reputation as a dominant grappler just like his mentor Khabib Nurmagomedov. He's had no trouble taking people down during his UFC run.

Beneil Dariush recently spoke with  RT Sport about the new matchup in the UFC lightweight division. He's not worried about Islam Makhachev.

“I don’t really think too much about Islam – I think about me,” Dariush said via MMAJunkie. “What do I do in my fights? I’m a grappler, obviously, so I’m not going to be like, ‘Oh, he’s a grappler – I can’t grapple.’ Of course I’m going to try and grapple. I know how to strike, so of course I’m going to use my striking. I’m not a person where I feel like, ‘Oh, I have to do this in order to win the fight.’ I feel comfortable everywhere. So if I want to wrestle, I’ll wrestle. If I want to strike, I’ll strike. If I want to counter, I’ll counter. I can do all things, so I’m not worried about it.

“A lot of people say we mirror each other because we’re both southpaw. We’re almost the same height – I think he’s a little bit taller than me – and if I don’t get too crazy, I try to be also very methodical. So there’s differently a mirror there.”

Islam Makhachev is always going to be compared to former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. Beneil Dariush understands the comparisons but sees some big differences.

“Khabib is orthodox, obviously,” Dariush said. “And Khabib – he creates chaos, and in that chaos he finds the takedown. And once he finds the takedown, he puts a lot of pressure with his ground and pound. If you look at Islam, he is a little bit more methodical, more patient. He finds his distance with his striking, and the better his distance is set up, the more he starts to engage in the grappling. But he always makes sure he finds his range first. So a little bit different with the two, but even though Khabib fought inside chaos, he fought very safe. He knew how to create chaos but stay out of danger.”

Islam Makhachev vs Beneil Dariush will take place in a UFC main event in February. The bout is expected to determine who will fight next for the belt.