Beneil Dariush is not the calling-out type, which is why he surprised everyone with his callout of Robert Whittaker.
Dariush (18-4-1 MMA, 12-4-1 UFC) knocked out Drakkar Klose at UFC 248 in one of the best fights on the card. The soft spoken lightweight then took the mic to call out Whittaker – not for a fight, but for being a great dad.
But Dariush used the word “callout” instead of “shoutout,” which had people momentarily confused as to why Dariush would try to get a fight with a middleweight.
He said it was all part of his plan.
“I know what I did there, and I knew it was going to confuse some people, but that was the whole point,” Dariush told MMA Junkie. “To get everybody’s attention, I played with words a little bit. Plus, I’m sure if I go down to Australia, there’s a good chance Rob will call me to throw some pieces – and who’d say no to that? I’d love to go a few rounds with a champion.”
After a rough patch, which included a couple losses and a draw, Dariush has bounced back with four straight wins and three straight performance bonuses.
The win over Klose will likely set Dariush up for big things in the lightweight division, but he’s looking to take things one fight at a time.
“I always tell people your next fight is the most important fight of your career. So with that said, it would mean that my last fight was the most important one,” Dariush said. “I consider my last fight extremely important, and I’m putting it at the top. Obviously, it’ll fall into its natural order as soon as I fight again.
“Honestly, I’m not interested in picking names. Also, I have no clue what the UFC is thinking as far as my matchups. So I guess I’ll be just as surprised as you are when we find out, which in a way, I guess, is fun – all the anticipation. In all honesty, I just want to continue to compete with the highs.”
The coronavirus outbreak has altered fighters’ daily training regiments, but Dariush is using it as an opportunity to recover from nagging injuries that he’s ignored over the past few years.
“Coronavirus has definitely been a pain, but I’m grateful that it’s only been a small inconvenience because I know a lot of other people have had much worse issues,” Dariush said. “Training has not been ideal, but I’m also recovering from many injuries. So in a way, it works with my schedule of rehab.
“I had some serious injuries that I was ignoring and just trying to push through, but now I see that was a big mistake and a great learning experience. Being healthy allows me to train at a higher level and train more in general. So with that being said, I think the thing I would attribute most to my improvement would be keeping myself healthier.”
