Beneil Dariush has admitted that his next fight against Renato Moicano at UFC 311 on January 18th will help him decide whether it’s time to hang up his gloves or not.
The 35-year-old Dariush took the whole of 2024 off after suffering back-to-back 1st round losses via strikes the year before, including being TKO’d by Charles Oliveira at UFC 289 and then KO’d by Arman Tsarukyan at UFC On ESPN 52.
Prior to that Dariush had been trying to push towards a title shot after going on an eight-fight winning streak, but having now slid back down to No.9 in the rankings he sees his fight with the 10th placed Moicano as a pivotal moment in his career.
“I don’t know exactly when I’m going to retire,” Dariush said on MMA Junkie Radio. “It’s one of those things where I’m going to be able to pinpoint to, ‘Hey, I’m 36. I’m done. I’m 37. I’m done.’ It’s really two things: Do I have the desire? Then the second part, which is just as important: Do I have the ability. Currently I feel like I have the desire, and I still feel like I have the ability. I don’t feel like I’m lacking, and I do believe I’ve gotten way better over the year. It’s been a really good year for improvement and growth.
“All that’s left is being actually able to prove it. Getting into that octagon and proving what I’ve been able to do. If I can do that, I’m going to continue to fight. If I can’t do that there’s obviously something missing, and you only get so many chances to fix it. It might be time to consider walking away from this. I have nothing against guys who fight for a long time, I have a lot of respect for these guys, but my desire was always to be champion. If I don’t have the ability to be champion, I would more than likely walk away from the sport.”
Dariush is currently seen as the underdog in his upcoming fight due to the also 35-year-old Moicano currently enjoying the best form of his 10-year run in the UFC after stringing together a four-fight winning streak against the likes of Brad Riddell, Drew Dober, Jalin Turner and most recently Benoit Saint Denis.
