Beneil Dariush is now questioning the future of his MMA career, asking himself whether to continue fighting or accept the end of his era. For him, the way to get clear answers about this query is to have another fight to make him realize his reality reality.
Dariush suffered a major loss to Arman Tsarukyan at UFC on ESPN 52 earlier this month. This became the 34-year-old’s second knockout loss this year after being defeated by Charles Oliveira in June. Prior to his last bout, the Iranian-born American fighter already discussed the possibility of his retirement by giving two “requirements” that would serve as his hint. Although Dariush didn’t directly mention a loss as a sign of this, the fighter seemingly started considering it after losing to Tsarukyan.
Nonetheless, Dariush still named his possible next opponents in Benoit Saint-Denis and Dan Hooker, both of whom he seemingly wants to use to determine whether he should still pursue his MMA career or take another path where he could excel.
“I just want to know if I still got it,” Dariush told Submission Radio. “That’s like my biggest thing. Because it’s one thing to go into the training room and perform really well, and it’s another thing to go into that octagon and perform really well. And if I don’t have it, I need to know so that way I can find a way to put my energy into something else and move forward, because there’s no point if I can’t be the best.”
Dariush recalled the time he found himself in the same losing skid situation but said today’s challenge for him is a bit different now. For the fighter, this makes his question about retirement more prominent, leading to his doubts about his future under UFC.
“… Last time I was here, it was maybe 2017 or 2018, I was in back-to-back losses,” Dariush said. “And my goal in this game is to be the best that I can be. And I just remember spending a lot of time in prayer and trying to figure out if I was done back then. And I’m kind of in the same spot right now. I’m just trying to figure out like, do I go forward or am I done kind of deal? …
“… Last time, I had a lot of issues physically with my neck and just, I said I would solve those issues and then go back into the octagon and see how that goes. And I did that. I had a big change in my performance. I went from being 0-3 to like 8-0. And so, the neck made a big difference. But this time, I don’t have any health issues. My neck is pretty good overall. I don’t have any issues with it. So, it’s a different spot I’m in than I was back then.”
