Beneil Dariush Questions Fighting Ability: 'Maybe I Don’t Have It Anymore'

Beneil Dariush is wondering if he can still compete at the sport’s highest level after a knockout loss to Arman Tsarukyan in the main event at UFC on ESPN 52 on Dec. 2.

It was the second consecutive knockout loss for the Kings MMA product, who fell to former champ Charles Oliveira in the opening round of their clash at UFC 289 in June. However, Dariush revealed that there is a significant difference in his mindset in aftermath of the two losses.

“Remember how I told you guys I just didn’t feel like I showed up that fight [against Oliveira]?” Dariush told Submission Radio. “No matter how I looked at it, I was like, ‘Man maybe I did something wrong in camp, I’m gonna go back and fix it.’ So that was my focus, I’m gonna go back and fix my camp and everything will be better.

“So I went in back into camp and just tried to do everything the best that I can and I had a really good camp for this fight. Great weight cut, great conditioning, everything I did was solid. My sparring looked great. And then I got to the fight and I didn’t show up again. So now it goes from is it an issue of not showing up to an issue of maybe I don’t have it anymore.”

Dariush has experienced struggles in the past, notably going winless in a three-bout stretch from March 2017 to March 2017. He would rebound with eight consecutive victories to establish himself as one of the top contenders in the UFC’s lightweight division. This time around, Dariush is letting his coaches decide the timeline for his Octagon return.

“My coaches are asking me since I’ve had back-to-back concussions, they want me to take a good amount of time off,” Dariiush said. “They haven’t really told me exactly how long that is so I’m kind of at their mercies. [Because] typically if you’re winning and you’re performing well, you could be like, ‘Hey coaches, I’m winning and I’m performing well.’ But currently I’m not performing well or winning so they get to have more control than usual as far as when I get to fight…If it was up to me I’d like to be back February-March but I think it’s gonna be a little longer than that.”