Las Vegas, NV — At this year’s UFC Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, lightweight Beneil Dariush — now fully healed and back in training — opened up about the one fight in his career that had him feeling afraid.
“I’ve been back to training for the past six weeks I would say. I had a broken— tibia I think? Ahh whatever, I broke something and it’s better now, and I’ve been training hard,” Dariush (21-4-1) told Cageside Press. “I’ve recovered, done all that— I think it was fibula actually.”
Since the Hall of Fame is all about celebrating the greats, and the memories they’ve made, we asked Dariush about some of his own favorite memories.
“There was the Michael Johnson fight. That was my first time taking on a high ranked opponent. That’s something I’ll never forget,” recalled Dariush. “I remember actually going— for the first time, I was actually afraid. I don’t know why. I normally don’t get afraid, I normally enjoy my time in the octagon. But I actually was a little bit afraid. But as soon as we touched gloves, it was all gone.”
Aside from the Johnson fight, fighting at altitude sticks out to Dariush, for a different reason. “Fighting in altitude, man, forget that stuff. It’s the worst. Fighting in altitude is the worst. I’ll never forget the fight I had with Rashid Magomedov. I couldn’t catch my breath til I went to bed. I was having weird breathing things.”
Watch our full interview with UFC lightweight Beneil Dariush above.
