After what seemed to be a relatively quiet UFC 311 fight week, things unraveled last Friday just before the official weigh-in.
Islam Makhachev was set to defend his lightweight title against Arman Tsarukyan in the highly anticipated main event, but just before Tsarukyan was scheduled to step in, news broke that he was withdrawing from the fight due to injury.
UFC boss Dana White then revealed that Renato Moicano would step in to fight Makhachev as he was already on the card scheduled to fight Beneil Dariush.
Unfortunately for Dariush, after a long and grueling fight camp, he will no longer compete at UFC 311 on Saturday.
READ MORE: 'Harder fight'… Demetrious Johnson shares his prediction for the new UFC 311 main event
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Beneil Dariush received a show and win fee for the aftermath of UFC 311
Dariush's last fight took place against 'Ahalkalakets' in December 2023 and the 35-year-old was hoping to bounce back from back-to-back losses after more than a year out of action.
'Benny D' has admitted that when he first heard about the news of Tsarukyan being gone, he thought he would get the chance to step in and fight the champion Makhachev.
“So I got a text around 4 in the morning. I'm not sleeping when I'm losing weight… I see Ali (Abdelaziz) texting me saying, 'Hey, do you think you're 155 pound?' and I was like, 'Yes, I can,'” Dariush began explaining in an interview with The Schmo.
“I'm starting to hear more things about Arman actually not being able to make it because I thought about it. If it was Makhachev who had problems they wouldn't put me with Arman, we already fought so I assumed that was the case. Arman.
“I get there and then hear more things about him not being able to make it and part of me goes, 'Man, I think I'm going to fight for the title,' so I come back to my room and work on rehydrating. Ali comes in and says, 'Hey, listen man, they're giving it to Renato,'” Dariush continued.
With the change coming at the last minute, Dariush has revealed that the promotion will both earn him his show and win money to soften the blow.
“It's excellent, I can't complain, they give me show and money, so you know, a lot of people say, 'I hope they take care of you'. I appreciate Dana and the UFC,” Dariush explained.
While many fans expect this to be the minimum the promotion should make, former middleweight champion Chris Weidman recently revealed that he was not paid his full purse when his UFC 309 bout fell through on fight night.
Dariush mentions potential next opponents after the fallout from the fight
After being out of the Octagon for over a year, the UFC veteran hopes to return to action sooner rather than later.
Following the fallout, Dariush claims he was promised a “good fight” and has outlined a few potential opponents he would like to share the Octagon with.
“Ideally, I would like to do that. If I'm super fast, it would be in March. I think ideally I would fight in April, someone who was in front of me. When I look at the rankings, it's Dustin Poirier, Max Holloway and Michael Chandler.
“Those are the possibilities… Ideally it would be Dustin Poirier, I don't know what it is, but lately he's been harassing me too because you know there was an argument between us and then he says, 'No, I'm not interested'… He's changed in my eyes,” Dariush admitted.
Dustin Poirier has continuously hinted that he will fight again, but it is unlikely to come against Dariush as he has previously turned down fights against the 35-year-old.
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