Beneil Dariush thought he was fighting Islam Makhachev at UFC 311 – or at least he hoped so.
When Arman Tsarukyan pulled out of Saturday’s main event against lightweight champion Makhachev (27-1 MMA, 16-1 UFC), the UFC needed a replacement opponent. The two most worthy candidates were Dariush (22-6-1 MMA, 16-6 UFC) and Renato Moicano, who were scheduled to face each other on the main card.
Dariush revealed that he was prepping to make championship weight in case, but the UFC wound up giving Moicano (20-6-1 MMA, 12-6 UFC) the opportunity instead.
“I get down to 156 actually pretty easily,” Dariush told Submission Radio. “I get down to 156 three hours before weigh-ins, and then I was like, OK, I’ve got one more pound. So I take a little break and then I cut the last pound. I get on the scale 9 a.m., I start rehydrating, I go back to my room and Ali (Abdelaziz) walks in and he says to me, ‘Yeah, so they gave the fight to Moicano. They’re going to take care of you as far as payment – show and win – but you’re not fighting tomorrow.’ I was upset obviously, a chance to fight for the title (went to someone else).
“I was super upset, but I also was like, at least I can take care of my family. But, man, my wife couldn’t hide it at all. You could see it in my wife’s face. When she heard that, I thought she was going to kill Ali. I felt bad for Ali for a second, and I was like, dang, man. She was not happy because all night she thought I was going to fight for the title, and so she’s like, ‘Oh, he has to make 155. The extra pound is not easy.’ Stuff like that. I know it’s going through her mind. So I just had to calm her down a bit, and then I kind of had to process it myself.”
Moicano was submitted by Makhachev in Round 1 at Intuit Dome, and Dariush wasn’t surprised by the outcome.
“I don’t want to be a Debbie Downer, but I was just like, man, I was telling my wife, I don’t think Moicano has a chance,” Dariush said. “I think he’s going to get taken down. His takedown defense isn’t that good, and it must have been at like the 2:30 mark, I was like, look, Makhachev is going to shoot in the next 30 seconds and then he shoots. I thought Moicano was going to last the round, but he got finished.”
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 311.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Beneil Dariush says he was cutting weight to fight Islam Makhachev at UFC 311
