Beneil Dariush (19-4-1) is on quite an impressive streak right now. Winner of five straight bouts has the UFC veteran on the right path towards UFC gold.
Dariush opened Saturday’s main card with a bang against fellow veteran Scott Holtzman. Already a proven grappler, Dariush made it a point to showcase his constantly improving striking.
After brushing off a couple of early eye pokes, ‘Benny’ decided to briefly initiate the grappling against the cage, before separating to land a devastating knee to the chin of Holtzman.
A mix of left-crosses, uppercuts, overhand lefts, and body kicks eventually led to the demise of Holtzman and the highlight finish for Dariush.
A deafening spinning back-fist (forearm) dropped the durable Holtzman; earning Dariush the jaw-dropping finale to a spectacular performance.
Unfortunately for Dariush, he failed to make weight, disqualifying him from the Performance of the Night bonus ($50,000) that he certainly would have be awarded.
Fortunately for Dariush though, Saturday’s win made it five in a row, putting him in prime position to call his next shot.
With quality wins now over guys like Anthony Rocco Martin, Jim Miller, Michael Johnson, James Vick, Drew Dober, Drakkar Klose, and now Scott Holtzman, it’s obvious that Dariush is more than prepared to face a top-10 opponent next.
Fighting in the UFC since 2014, ‘Benny’ seems to have put it all together now and is capable of defeating anybody he faces.
He’s in the right place to improve as well, training at Kings MMA in California under coach Rafael Cordeiro.
Dariush made it clear in his post-fight press conference that he intends to be the UFC lightweight champ one day, but he’ll have to win a couple more to steak his claim in the always tough 155lbs division.
Al Iaquinta and Islam Makhachev are two fresh faces currently ranked ahead of Dariush that would make sense for him to fight next.
Keep a close eye on Beneil Dariush as a seasoned veteran that is still improving each and every time he steps inside the octagon. Expect him to look to earn his third win of 2020 towards the end of this crazy year.
