The stakes have risen for Beneil Dariush’s next fight.
It has been more than a year since No. 9 ranked Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Lightweight Daruish has competed inside of the Octagon (Arman Tsarukyan brutally knocked him out on Dec. 2, 2023 at UFC Austin). But the 35-year-old is back, and he’ll take on surging 155 lbs contender Renato Moicano next month at UFC 311, which will go down inside the brand-new Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, California.
Dariush is looking to snap his two-fight losing streak but has added more pressure to his upcoming bout by hinting at retirement if he loses to the hilarious, loud-mouth Brazilian.
“I’m not a crazy person. I don’t think I’m going to fight forever, but I don’t know exactly when I’m going to retire,” Dariush told MMA Junkie recently. “I won’t be able to pinpoint when I’m done. It’s really two things: A desire to fight and the second part, which is just as important, do I have the ability.”
“So, currently, I feel like I have the desire, and I still believe I have the ability,” Darish added. “I don’t feel like I’m lacking, and I do believe I’ve gotten much better over the year- it’s been a really good year of improvement and growth. All that’s left is being able to prove it…If I can do that, I’m going to continue to fight. If I can’t do that, then there’s obviously something missing, and you only get so many chances to fix it, and it might be time to consider walking away.”
“I have nothing against guys who fight for a long time. I have a lot of respect for them, but my desire was always to be a champion,” Dariush concluded. “If I can’t become champion then I’ll consider walking away, actually not consider but more than likely walk away from the sport.”
It doesn’t seem like Darish is fighting with one foot in and one foot out; instead, the 35-year-old is just being honest with his situation (he’s questioned his future before).
Dariush was very close to getting a title shot before his current losing streak, and if he’s questioning his ability, he shouldn’t because the only two guys who have beaten him since 2018 are the current Lightweight title challenger and the presumably next title challenger (Charles Oliveira).