UFC lightweight fighter Beneil Dariush is one of the top contenders in the division. While his contemporary fighters like Dustin Poirier and Michael Chandler are infinitely bigger stars, Dariush has amassed quite an impressive resume for himself. He holds an MMA record of 22-4-1 and a UFC record of 17-4-1. Dariush is currently on an 8 fight win streak and will face former champion Charles Oliveira at the upcoming UFC 289.
They will fight in the co-main event of UFC 289, as Amanda Nunes will duke it out against Irene Aldana for the women’s bantamweight title in the main event spot. Ahead of every PPV, UFC releases a Countdown video that highlights the struggles and the hardships the fighters go through ahead of their high-profile fights. However, the series also shares a look into their personal lives.
In the UFC 289 Countdown video, Beneil Dariush revealed details about his Syrian roots. He added, “Our history is fighting. When I came to America, it was a little bit different cause I didn’t get to see a lot of Syrian people living in California. But, once I started fighting, the community support was just tremendous.”
The bout against Charles Oliveira is definitely the biggest one of his career. Current champ Islam Makhachev also gave Beneil Dariush a shoutout and revealed that he would be waiting for the latter. If Dariush does manage to go past Do Bronx this weekend, he will definitely get the next crack at the champ.
Was Beneil Dariush born in Syria?
Beneil Dariush currently resides in the United States of America. He is currently a married man with a family. Dariush is married to Victoria Dariush and has a daughter, Alva Dariush. Just like her husband, Victoria was also a MMA fighter. But she retired after the pair got married in February 2020. She currently is the manager of Dariush’s gym, “Kings MMA Anaheim.”
But she also holds degrees in Registered Nursing and Kinesiology and Exercise Science. While the Dariush family is currently situated in California, he was born in Goltappeh, Iran on May 6, 1989. Dariush moved to the States later in life along with his parents Edward Dariush and Doris Khobier. In an interview with Emmanuel Romanous, Dariush revealed the realities of living in the middle east.
He added, “For example, when I was a little kid, I could walk in shorts, and may be a tank top. But like, once you become 15, 16, 17, can’t even wear shorts or tank tops. I’m walking with another girl who’s around my age if she’s not my sister, and the police stops me, they say, ‘Hey, who is this woman?’ If she happens to be a friend, they’re gonna be like, ‘That doesn’t fly, you have to get married to her right now.”
Dariush called the last few years of his life in the middle east, “eye-opening.” Despite that, he is proud of his Assyrian roots and even wanted to walk out with the flag. Ahead of his bout against Diego Ferreira, Dariush wanted to walk out with the Assyrian flag. But, he was not allowed to do so as Assyria was not a recognized country.
As per a previous UFC policy during their Reebok days, fighters could only carry flags of the recognized nations. Although that is not the case anyone, Dariush still can not walk out with an Assyrian flag as the company has now banned carrying any national flag to the Octagon.