Outside Source
Beneil Dariush says the UFC protects fighters from facing certain opponents. | 📷: UFC/Getty
Beneil Dariush recently hinted that the Ultimate Fighting Championship has a slight bias towards fighters they feel the need to protect.
Dariush (23-6) will face Benoit St. Denis (15-3) at UFC 322 on Nov. 15 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Dariush was recently asked about a matchup against Paddy Pimblett. While Dariush admits that it would be a great pairing, he hinted that the UFC wants to protect the English star from him. Dariush believes the promotion doesn’t want to offer “The Baddy” top-ranked opponents unless they have to.
Advertisement
“To some degree, I think they protect some of their guys,” Dariush told Submission Radio. “They don’t want me to spoil some of these guys. Unless they have to give me a top-ranked guy, they don’t want to give me a top ranked guy.”
Dariush was riding an eight-fight winning streak that put him close to title contention before losing to Charles Oliveira in 2023. The Assyrian American then suffered another knockout loss to Arman Tsarukyan. Dariush has since rebounded with a unanimous decision win over Renato “Money” Moicano, but remains removed from the title picture.
Meanwhile, Pimblett has attained stardom with seven UFC wins. “The Baddy” was even called out by Ilia Topuria after his lightweight title win over Oliveira this past June.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
Help support MMACrazies.com when you shop Amazon by starting your online Amazon shopping at MMACrazies.com/recommends/amazon. You are not charged extra, but we receive a small and very helpful commission on everything you purchase. Thanks for thinking of us every time you shop at Amazon.
