Beneil Dariush expects to “smash” Renato Moicano at UFC 317 after watching Islam Makhachev bout

Beneil Dariush has plenty of confidence that he will beat Renato Moicano at UFC 317.

Dariush was supposed to fight Moicano back in January, but the Brazilian ended up getting a title shot against Islam Makhachev on a day’s notice after Arman Tsarukyan pulled out. After Dariush lost the fight, he was hoping to return sooner, but is glad he is getting a chance to face Moicano.

“I remember talking to Sean Shelby and saying we could do March or April, so I thought I’d return sooner,” Dariush said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com. “But I know how these things go. So, this is where we are at… I mean, originally I asked for Dan Hooker and I had a call with Hunter Campbell and they said  (Mateusz) Gamrot, and I said sure. If that’s the fight, then I’ll do a rematch, but nothing was brought back up, and then I was offered Moicano again. The only thing I asked for was someone in the top 10.”

Given that Beneil Dariush already had months to game plan for Renato Moicano, he feels confident going into the fight. Especially after Dariush watched the Islam Makhachev fight play out, he got confident that he had the style to beat Moicano.

Beneil Dariush is confident against Renato Moicano ahead of UFC 317

“I mean, he’s a veteran, he fights smart. He takes advantage of people’s mistakes,” Dariush said. “But, I would say this last fight against Islam, he lost his cool, which is why he lost the fight. He rushed a little bit. I think he could have stayed in his guard a little bit longer… The Islam (fight) wasn’t short-notice, he had a full camp, he was preparing for me. I’m a southpaw, Makhachev is a southpaw, and we both do a lot of takedowns. Stylistically, there wasn’t a huge difference. I just think you saw a big difference.”

With Dariush having confidence, he expects to smash and finish Moicano at UFC 317 to return to the win column.

“I’ll just say this, I think I’m going to smash him, that’s as much as I can give you,” Dariush said.

If Beneil Dariush gets the win, he believes he’ll be closing in on a title shot at lightweight.

“It just puts me back in the win column, and I can go up higher. That’s what I’m looking for. After this fight, I’m hoping to be one or two fights away from the title,” Dariush concluded.