‘He Wasn’t the Same After the First Round’- Beneil Dariush Details What Went Wrong for Tony Ferguson at UFC 262

Beneil Dariush spoke out to MMA Junkie and shared his thoughts on facing Tony Ferguson at UFC 262. Dariush put forth the best performance of his career thus far, with a systematic breakdown of ‘El Cucuy’. Tony Ferguson had nothing much to offer Dariush on the feet or on the ground and lost his third straight fight.

Beneil Dariush entered the cage as the number 9 ranked contender and now stands inside the top 5 at lightweight. Despite having some setbacks in his career, he has put together one of the best runs towards the top. He’s now staring down the barrel of a massive fight and will be keen to keep the ball rolling.

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Beneil Dariush looks back at the best win of his career

John Morgan asked Dariush to expand on Ferguson as an opponent and comment on the fight. Dariush explained that ‘El Cucuy’ didn’t really offer any meaningful resistance throughout the contest. Furthermore, Dariush went on to say that the Ferguson on display in the last two rounds was starkly different from the first round.

“He was durable. I didn’t get a chance to see his striking and to be honest with you, at the moments that we did exchange some strikes, he felt slow and awkward. He was spinning a little bit, and he was trying to find his timing, I think. He was like loose yet, I never really gave him a chance to get loose.

“After the first round, the lactic acid in his muscles really activated. You can tell he really wasn’t the same after the first round.”

With his win over Tony Ferguson, Beneil Dariush showed that he truly belongs amongst the very best at lightweight. He’s one massive win away from possibly contending for the title depending on his things shake out. Lightweight has always been a shark tank and the elite contenders haven’t looked kindly upon fresh faces.

Justin Gaethje, Michael Chandler, Dustin Poirier, and Conor McGregor are the marquee names that Dariush can look towards facing in the future.