Beneil Dariush is ready to maintain his spot in the rankings by stopping a rising UFC lightweight.
Dariush (23-7-1 MMA, 17-7-1 UFC) takes on the streaking Quillan Salkilld (11-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) in the UFC Fight Night 275 co-main event on May 2 from RAC Arena in Perth (Paramount+). Dariush was originally scheduled to face another prospect in Manuel Torres at UFC 327, but the bout was scrapped when Torres pulled out. Now he draws a hometown fighter in Salkilld, who he sees as an even bigger threat.
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“Quillan is more well rounded, I would say,” Dariush told MMA Junkie. “He’s more willing to go to the ground. He’s more willing to go for takedowns. He’s got submissions. That’s the thing that changed. I had a game plan, and it didn’t require so much training all aspects of grappling. I was more focused on offensive grappling, but now I have to keep my defensive grappling sharp, too.
“But striking wise, they’re somewhat similar. Not totally similar, but they’re similar. I think it requires more to fight Quillan just because I have to focus on more things. But overall, they’re both really dangerous fighters, and I think the kid is going to be in the top 10, top 15, just this isn’t his time. Not this time. He’ll get it after this.”
Dariush has lost three of his past four fights, with his lone win in that stretch coming over Renato Moicano at UFC 317. Prior to that, the 36-year-old was on an eight-fight winning streak, and he plans on reminding everyone where he once was by putting a halt to Salkilld’s momentum.
“To be honest with you, I don’t know,” Dariush said. “I’m really just taking things one fight at a time. I’m just going to take this fight, I’m going to win, and I’m going to figure it out from there. But I’m starting to notice whoever does the rankings must not be a big fan of me because, as soon as I lose, they toss me behind Gamrot, they toss me behind Moicano. These are guys I beat, and it was a clear victory for me, so it’s weird how they do that. But I’m hoping after this fight, they’ll kind of remember that I’m capable and put me where I actually belong in the rankings.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Beneil Dariush on Quillan Salkilld: ‘This isn’t his time’
