Benoit Saint-Denis KO’d Beniel Dariush with a single punch just 16 seconds into their main card opening fight tonight at UFC 322 in New York City.

Round One

Solid calf kick from Dariush to start. He lands another big one that knocks BSD off-balance to the mat for a moment.

As Saint-Denis gets back up Dariush lands a knee to the body, but BSD counters with a left hook that lands flush and sends Dariush falling face-first onto the canvas!

BSD lands a follow-up punch on the mat, and that’s a wrap, with the KO finish just 16 seconds into the opening round!

A big win for Saint Denis then, but this ultra-quick KO loss for Dariush is very concerning as far as his future in the sport is concerned.

Dariush had already taken 18 months off from competing after a disastrous 2023 campaign that saw him not only finished twice in the first round via strikes, but also being KO’d in training and reportedly being dropped several times too.

He then suggested he might retire if he didn’t beat Renato Moicano in his last fight, and though he did eventually emerge with the victory on that occasion, he was dropped in the opening round.

And now with this latest KO defeat it does unfortunately add more evidence to suggest that Dariush can no longer take a punch.