Beneil Dariush has never backed down from a tough fight and he’s not about to start now.
The perennial lightweight contender battles Arman Tsarukyan in the UFC Austin main event, just 6 months after a disappointing knockout loss to Charles Oliveira. That loss snapped an eight-fight win streak for Dariush and seemingly knocked him out of title contention for good, but he can revive his championship hopes if he can stop the Tsarukyan hype train on Saturday.
Still only 27, Tsarukyan has lived up to the hype and then some, thoroughly dominating most of his UFC opponents. His only losses since joining the promotion came in his debut against future champion Islam Makhachev, and against Mateusz Gamrot in a fiercely contested five-rounder that could have gone either way. A win over Dariush would be Tsarukyan’s biggest win by far.
There’s even more lightweight stakes in the co-main event, which features a similar veteran vs. prospect match. Bobby Green was supposed to fight Dan Hooker, but a Hooker injury necessitated the involvement of short-notice replacement Jalin Turner. Can Green continue his unlikely rise up the ranks in his 48th pro fight, or has Turner made a savvy decision by jumping on this dangerous opportunity?
In other main card action, Rob Font welcomes two-time flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo to the bantamweight division, Sean Brady welcomes Kelvin Gastelum (back) to the welterweight division, Clay Guida makes UFC appearance No. 36 when he fights Sean Brady, and middleweights Punahele Soriano and Dustin Stoltzfus open the program.
What: UFC Austin
Where: Moody Center in Austin, Texas
When: Saturday, Dec. 2. The six-fight preliminary card starts at 4 p.m. ET on ESPN+ followed by a six-fight main card at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN and ESPN+
(Numbers in parentheses show standing in Mixed Martial Arts Fighting Global Rankings
Beneil Dariush (4) vs. Arman Tsarukyan (10)
Given his diverse skill and knack for gutting out tough wins, Beneil Dariush feels like a logical foil to Arman Tsarukyan’s contender campaign. As talented as Tsarukyan is, one gets the sense that he’s still perhaps a year or two away from his prime. The thing is, this version of Tsarukyan is already pretty damn good.
Tsarukyan isn’t the type to just blitz his opponents, so if this comes down to a war of attrition, I favor him based on his fitness, youth, and speed. I’m intrigued to see if Dariush can keep up with him when he’s still going 60 m.p.h. in the championship rounds. It’s not like we haven’t seen Dariush reach down deep and raise hell in the later stages of a fight before. You can only play that card so many times and I have to wonder if Dariush is reaching the end of his rope after fighting top competition for so long.
I’m expecting a lively 15 minutes of action that starts to turn in Tsarukyan’s favor near the end of the third round.
