Beneil Dariush is tired of getting overlooked.
Dariush, who’s won his past five in a row – four by way of finish – is eager to enter the title picture. He almost earned that opportunity when he was booked against fellow streaking lightweight Charles Oliveira in October, but after “Do Bronx” was forced out, the fight was scrapped.
Instead, he’s now set to face Diego Ferreira, who, like Dariush (19-4-1 MMA, 13-4-1 UFC), is looking to break into the upper echelon of the division. The pair will square off at UFC Fight Night 184 on Feb. 6, which takes place at UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
“I think I’m being overlooked, which isn’t something new for me, which is fine, but after this fight, how can you overlook me?” Dariush recently asked “MMA Junkie Radio.” “If I go in there and I can do what I’ve done, if I can dominate in this fight, for how long are they going to look over me? Like, who are they going to try and give me to say ‘No, no, no, you’ve got to beat this guy now’?
“I just don’t see it anymore, and unfortunately that fight with Oliveira didn’t happen – he pulled out then he got a fight with Tony (Ferguson). That would have been pretty much all I needed, but now I have another fight. Honestly, I’m just excited to fight. I don’t want to think about the drama of it because there’s always lots of drama. That’s the fun part about the UFC: Before the fight, all the drama.”
Dariush already holds a win over Ferreira (17-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC), defeating the Brazilian via unanimous decision at UFC 179 in 2014. But since then, Ferreira has gone 6-1, winning his past six straight, including a submission of former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis.
To see the full interview with Dariush, check out the video below.