Five Things You Need To Know About Beneil Dariush

Beneil Dariush will be back in front of the crowd after a long time. Coming out of his recent win at UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs. Volkov, he is now on a 6-fight winning streak. Beneil Dariush is now scheduled to fight Tony Ferguson on May 12 at UFC 262.

The #9 UFC lightweight contender has a spectacular professional record of 20-4-1 (W-L-D). Dariush is now looking to claim his seventh consecutive win in May.

Ahead of his fight against Ferguson, let’s look at five things you need to know about the Iranian-born fighter.

Beneil Dariush- Childhood and early life

Beneil Dariush was born on May 6, 1989, in Goetapeh, Iran. His entire family moved to the USA with a dream to provide a better life for themselves. Dariush had a massive joint family, and he grew up with over twenty cousins and sisters. 

Dariush and his family didn’t know a word of English, so he wasn’t that excited about moving to a strange place. Since he did not know the language, he could not socialize with other kids in his neighborhood. This resulted in him becoming socially awkward and introverted, so he just used to play with his sisters and cousins. Before becoming an MMA athlete, Dariush used to work at Baskin Robbins.

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Dariush’s amateur career

When Dariush turned 18, he developed an interest in martial arts. He started his Martial Arts training under Bruno Paulista in a jiu-jitsu gym near his house. His early MMA training started when he joined BJJ under Romulo Barral and Muay Thai under Rafael Cordeiro. He took part in over 50 jiu-jitsu tournaments and has won first, second, or third place in every one of them.

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Early professional MMA career

When Dariush became a professional MMA athlete, he won his first six pro fights in MMA promotions named ‘Respect In The Cage’, ‘Samurai Pro Sports’, and ‘High Fight Rock’. Four of his first six victories came via TKO or submission in round one. 

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Beneil Dariush achievements

Dariush is a BJJ black belt under Romulo Barral and Muay Thai black belt under Rafael Cordeiro. He is a three-time winner of the ‘Performance of the Night’ in UFC. Further, Dariush’s last fight against Diego Ferreira was awarded the ‘Fight of the Night’. In eight out of his twenty-five professional fights, Dariush has won via T/KO or submission in round one. 

Championships and Tournaments

Dariush has won the No-Gi Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Championships as a blue, purple, and brown belt. He was also the ‘Respect In The Cage’ Lightweight Champion. He had successfully defended his lightweight title for one time before leaving RITC for UFC.

The Iranian-born fighter Beneil Dariush sure has a lot of experience under his belt. From his childhood to his professional MMA career, Dariush has faced a lot of challenges and successfully overcome them, and is capable of giving a tough fight to Ferguson at UFC 262.

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