Beneil Dariush may seek answers through a change in weight class.
Dariush (23-7-1 MMA, 17-7-1 UFC) was knocked out by Benoit Saint Denis in just 16 seconds in their lightweight bout at UFC 322 last month. The 36-year-old missed the non-title 155-pound mark by 1.2 pounds when weighing in.
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With Dariush getting knocked out in three of his past four losses, he thinks it’s time to go easier on his body.
“I was thinking to myself, maybe I’m going to move to 170,” Dariush told Submission Radio. “I did some testing here and I did what’s called a DEXA scan. I was at 185, 186 at 10 percent body fat, which means I have like 19 pounds of fat to lose. Getting to zero is kind of dangerous. Injuries become very common. I’m just going through the process to see if ’55 is reasonable for me.
“I got the info from them and then I reached out to the UFC, so I’m going to go there this week and do some testing over there just to make sure. That should have been the best performance of my life. I was in incredible shape, training was excellent, I had great sparring partners, my movement, my timing was great. Everything was great until fight week came.”
Dariush said he landed in New York weighing in at 175 pounds, which is higher than what he expected. He struggled to shed the final pound or so off, and thinks his inability to take damage is likely from depleting himself.
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“I went to the weigh-ins and I missed weight,” Dariush said. “I apologized to my opponent, I tried to recover the best I could and go fight. I felt good and everything, then the weight cut just got to me a little bit, obviously. Even the fight day, I felt good. I can’t make excuses, but for whatever reason, I don’t know if it’s the weight cut or what, but I wasn’t able to take a punch.
“… That’s why I am considering going up to 170. This game, if you can’t take a punch, what’s the point in trying to fight? So I’m considering 170. I’ll have some testing this week with the UFC and see what I do.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Beneil Dariush contemplates welterweight move after UFC 322 loss
