Quillan Salkilld is riding high after his UFC Fight Night 275 win, which is saying something considering his indulgent post-fight partying.
Perhaps the only thing more violent than the hangover was his knockout at RAC Arena in Perth, Australia, as he quickly flattened perennial contender Beneil Dariush with punches in the first round. The experience was surreal in a lot of different ways.
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“One hundred percent, it was cool,” Salkilld told MMA Junkie on Monday. “I remember even being in there, and Beneil was over there and going, ‘What the f*ck? I’m fighting Beneil Dariush.’ It was kind of like the kid in me that just started training came out and said, ‘Oh sh*t, that’s Beneil Dariush. I’ve been watching him for years.’ So when I was in there with him, it was a bit surreal until we actually started swinging at each other.”
Salkilld (12-1 MMA, 5-0 UFC) was actually cracked hard by one of Dariush’s early strikes. While he appeared wobbled, Salkilld said his mind was not scrambled. He thinks he was more off balance than anything. It’s been a theme throughout his career.
“I didn’t even know what the f*ck he hit me with at the start,” Salkilld said. “I was like, ‘What the f*ck was that?’ I went to counter the kick, and then I saw there was a nice way he drew back and retracted on the kick. He threw the cross out and just threw a little cheeky one. But yeah, I wasn’t dazed or anything. It was just a quick little flash. As soon as I stood up, I was fine again. I got him with a couple, two little counters. Then, yeah, it was a bit of a grapple. I was just waiting for that moment to break away and pounce.”
“… I was pretty fine. I don’t know. When someone hits me like that, it’s like I don’t care. I got back up as if nothing’s happened. It’s happened a couple times in my career before. In my amateur career, early in my career, early on, the first punch that lands just takes the legs out for half a second. I’m still there. It’s not like I’m dazed or wobbly or anything. It just takes the legs out for a split second, and then I’m fine. Then that’s it. It’s a mulligan. You get one hit. That was the one bad one, then the rest I’m all right with. That’s kind of what it felt like.”
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That’s when Salkilld turned the tables – and the lights out. Salkilld grinded Dariush into the fence before knocking him down, and eventually out, with a series of punches.
“I was just waiting for that moment to break away,” Salkilld said. “Because when he started wrestling, I could really feel him tensing up, squeezing. I heard him grunting a lot. I know that’s very hard on the gas tank. For me, I was just trying to do the opposite, just stay calm and composed and try not to exert too much energy. Because I want to make sure when he’s tired, I’m not, so I can really f*cking start putting the pace on. That’s what I did. When I broke off, I did a little shimmy out to the side and got to the open. I hit him once and then I just said, ‘F*ck it. I’m going to start swinging and try to hit him again.’ I hit him again. He went down, and I hit him a couple more times, and that was it. I was just looking to connect.”
Over the past three years, Dariush is 1-4 with four first-round knockout losses. Despite his age and damage sustained in recent outings, Salkilld doesn’t think fans should totally discredit Dariush’s abilities. He’s only lost to the best – and Salkilld is happy to be included in that grouping.
“He’s only taken the Ls from the who’s who of the division,” Salkilld said. “Now my name is there. He’s a good, tough test. He’s no damn slouch. The only downside of his game would’ve been obviously his aging ability in the game. He’s been in the game for so long. It’s a lot of miles on the body. It’s only natural especially in this game, the longer you’re in the game, the worse off it’s going to be toward the end of that run. It’s just the natural process of things.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Quillan Salkilld discusses UFC Perth win, Beneil Dariush future, more
