Beneil Dariush acknowledges that he is nearing the end of his MMA career, and a two-fight losing skid has added to the mental strain of contemplating his future.
Once riding high on an eight-fight winning streak, Dariush faced a setback when he was TKO’d by Charles Oliveira at UFC 289. This was followed by a KO loss to Arman Tsarukyan in December 2023.
Now, the veteran 155lber prepares to face Renato Moicano at UFC 311 on Jan. 18 at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California. After 11 years in the UFC, he understands the significance of this crossroads fight in his career.
I don’t know exactly when I’m going to retire,” Dariush shared on MMA Junkie Radio. “It’s one of those things where I’m not going to be able to pinpoint, ‘Hey, I’m 36. I’m done. I’m 37. I’m done.’ It’s really two things: Do I have the desire? Then the second part, which is just as important: Do I have the ability?
Currently, I feel like I have the desire, and I still feel like I have the ability. I don’t feel like I’m lacking, and I do believe I’ve gotten way better over the year. It’s been a really good year for improvement and growth," Dariush continued. "All that’s left is being able to prove it — getting into that octagon and demonstrating what I’ve been working on. If I can do that, I’ll continue to fight. If I can’t, then there’s obviously something missing, and you only get so many chances to fix it. At that point, it might be time to consider walking away from this.
Dariush will appear on the undercard of next year's first pay-per-view, which will be headlined by a pair of title fights.
Before lightweight kingpin Islam Makhachev runs it back with Arman Tsarukyan in the main event, Merab Dvalishvili will put his newly won bantamweight gold on the line opposite the undefeated Umar Nurmagomedov.