Beneil Dariush

Rafael Cordeiro, the coach of UFC ranked American lightweight Beneil Dariush, told why his ward put his career on pause.

Dariush suffered two first-round knockout losses in 2023 - in May to Charles Oliveira and in December to Arman Tsarukian.

"Last year turned out to be very difficult for Beneil. He was knocked out twice and knocked down three times. Plus, he was knocked out once in the gym. All in all, he's suffered head trauma five times in one year. He's still relatively young, so I've asked him to take a break and rest.

My concern for him is not as a trainer, but as a father. He's won eight of his last 10 fights, but there are people advising him to end his career. That's absurd, very disrespectful to Beneil. Let's see what will be the right fights when he fully recovers," MMA Fighting quotes the specialist as saying.

UFC lightweight Beneil Dariush has spoken out about a possible rematch between the promotion's featherweight champion Islam Makhachev and Arman Tsarukyan. Beneil believes that this fight makes the most sense right now.

"This fight makes the most sense right now. This fight needs to be made. I know it's not the next fight for Islam. But Arman has obviously become the number one contender. I think it's going to be a tough fight for Makhachev. I still consider Islam the favorite. I don't know how interesting this fight is to the public, but it should definitely be held," said Dariush in an interview with Helen Yee Sports.

It should be reminded that in the first fight Islam Makhachev won by unanimous decision of judges against Arman Tsarukyan.

UFC American lightweight Beneil Dariush has listed three of the promotion's champions who could win another title in the not-too-distant future.

UFC lightweight Dan Hooker revealed when he plans to return to the octagon and who he wants to fight. Hooker named Beneil Dariush as his number one contender.

"If Beneil Dariush wants to fight me in June, I would love to face him. June-July, I'll blow his head off his shoulders, there's no doubt about that. Fighting Dariusz is a priority option for me, but he remains silent. If Beneil doesn't want it, I could fight Renato Moicano," Hooker told MMANews.

It's worth noting that Hooker is based at number eleven in the UFC's lightweight division. In his last fight, he won by split decision on judges over Jalin Turner.

American UFC lightweight Beneil Dariush spoke out about the scandalous incident involving Arman Tsarukyan at the UFC 300 tournament held last weekend in Las Vegas, USA.

Recall that during Tsarukyan's entrance to the bout against Charles Oliveira, one of the fans decided to show the Armenian a middle finger - Arman responded by trying to punch him in the face.

"I haven't had any incidents like that in my career. But, you know, if Arman wanted to react to that, I respect his decision. I'll be honest with you. I'm a devout Christian, I don't recognize violence. But at the same time, part of me understands that people don't want to be abused, to be disrespected. Especially in moments like the one Armand was in. I wouldn't have done the same, but I respect his decision, I understand why he did it," Dariusz told Submission Radio.