Beneil Dariush has revealed that he cut extra weight in the hope of being picked to be a late replacement for Arman Tsarukyan to fight lightweight champion Islam Makhachev at UFC 311 on Saturday night, only to be left disappointed when it emerged his originally scheduled opponent Renato Moicano was getting 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).”
Technically Dariush had a valid claim to being given the title shot as he was ranked a place above Moicano at No.9 heading into this past weekend’s event, but in terms of recent form and activity it was his opponent who made the most sense, given that Dariush had been out for a year after suffering back-to-back 1st round losses, while ‘Money’ was on a four-fight winning streak.
“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.”
Having already been preparing to fight Moicano himself, Dariush also revealed that he was certain Makhachev was going to get the better of the in-form Brazilian on the night.
“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.”
