What’s Next For Beneil Dariush?

UFC Austin went down last Saturday night (Dec. 2, 2023) in Austin, TX., leaving several fighters feeling the post-fight blues thanks to one electric finish after another. Among them was Bobby Green, who was brutally stopped by Jalin Turner in the co-main event.

And Kelvin Gastelum, who was twisted up like a pretzel by Sean Brady in their Welterweight matchup (see it again here). Plus, Joe Solecki surely had a headache on Sunday morning after he was knocked out via slam by Drakkar Klose (highlights). But which fighter is suffering from the worst post-fight hangover, now a few days removed from the show?

Beneil Dariush.

Coming into his headlining bout against Arman Tsarukyan, Dariush was looking to erase the memory of his technical knockout (TKO) loss at the hands of former 155-pound champion, Charles Oliveira. Instead, things went from bad to worse in the blink of an eye…literally.

It didn’t take long for Tsarukyan to tie a bow on the event, tagging Dariush with a knee up the middle while immediately taking advantage to clip the Iranian with a massive right hand that put him out for the count. Any blows afterward were unnecessary (thought it wasn’t as bad as this) because Dariush was out for the count in just 64 seconds.

That is now two straight KO/TKO losses for Dariush, which will likely take him out of the top five and push him further away from the championship picture. It’s a massive fall for him because prior to his defeat to “Do Bronx,” he had won eight in a row over a four-year unbeaten span. In fact, had he defeated Oliveira he would’ve earned his first-ever shot at the division title.

Now, he will have to go back to the drawing board to regroup. When he does return he will be fighting with immense pressure on his shoulders because a third straight loss would be detrimental for his combat career, in particular his championship aspirations.

The loss puts Dariush in a tricky position because there is no telling how far down he will fall in the rankings, though I highly doubt he will be taken out of the Top 10. There are several options for him at the moment, including a possible matchup against Dan Hooker, who is currently ranked No. 9. “Hangman” was supposed to fight at UFC Austin against Bobby Green before a broken arm forced him out of action.

I’d like to think that Dariush will take a lengthy break from the fight game after his second straight first-round stoppage defeat, which would give Hooker some time to get healthy enough to return for a possible scrap. Another potential pairing could come against Rafael Fiziev who, like Dariush, is also on a two-fight losing streak.

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