Beneil Dariush had a hard time on a glorious day of his mixed martial arts career after a photo with the 2024 class of HOFers made everyone believe that the 35-year-old has been inducted into the Hall of Fame. However, that wasn’t the case. This year, Wanderlei Silva and Mauricio Rua in the Pioneer Wing, Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Frankie Edgar in the Modern Wing, and Anderson Silva vs Chael Sonnen in the Fight Wing, were inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.
Beneil Dariush was awarded the Forrest Griffin Community Award during International Fight Week for his efforts in philanthropy. Dariush’s appearance during the ceremony was not for the Hall of Fame induction but a special tribute to a fighter pushing to change society.
Dariush was honored for his work with the Shlama Foundation to raise funds for the needy. He even used his first $50,000 bonus to fund two orphanages in Haiti, partnering with the Promise Child Ministries. The UFC veteran also gives back to the MMA community by training BJJ and Muay Thai at Kings MMA in Huntington five days a week. And he does it for absolutely free.
“Beneil does an incredible job giving back to his community,” UFC President Dana White had said upon his induction.
Beneil Dariush becomes only the fifth fighter to receive the Forrest Griffin Community Award
Started in 2020 to celebrate fighters using their platform to do charitable work and bring a change in their society, saw the Nogueira brothers become the first recipient of the award 4 years ago.
In 2021, Giga Chikadze was awarded the honors, while Max Holloway and Dustin Poirier were adjudged the best suitors for special recognition from the UFC in the year 2022 and 2023 respectively.
Unaware of the special award, UFC fans and even former two-division Champion Conor McGregor sent derogatory statements about the UFC veteran on social media. McGregor even compared Dariush to Belal Muhammad, showing no remorse in his verbal attack on such a special day.
As for his UFC career, Beneil Dariush is on a bit of a downward spiral since beating Mateusz Gamrot back in October 2022. The 35-year-old lightweight has dropped back-to-back stoppage losses to Charles Oliveira and Arman Tsarukyan in recent times and currently sits at the #7 spot in the lightweight rankings.
Who do you want to see him fight next? Do let us know in the comments section.