Dariush admits frustration in fight with Moicano and praises the Brazilian's performance at UFC 317

Renato Moicano was defeated by Beneil Dariush No. UFC 317 (Photo: Instagram/UFC)

Slight underdog at the bookmakers, Beneil Dariush prepared for the UFC 317 with great pressure to return to winning ways after suffering two consecutive knockouts. Experienced, the Iranian managed to recover after suffering a scare with Renato Moicano and defeated his rival by unanimous decision of the judges.

Even with an important victory, the veteran did not hesitate to express frustration over the fight not going as expected. According to Dariush, the scenario of the fight ended up causing irritation.

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“I’m feeling good, (but) frustrated. I just keep replaying that first round in my head and it just makes me angrier. It’s frustrating because you don’t follow the game plan that you set out to do. You lose the round because of that and then you go into the second round and you’re so angry that you don’t even think about game plans anymore. You’re just thinking about finding a way to win,” Dariush said in a post-fight press conference.

Beneil Dariush in victory against Renato Moicano. Photo: Reproduction/Instagram.

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Finally, the fighter made a point of recognizing Moicano's merits in offering a difficult fight on the main card of the UFC 317.

“He was doing a lot of feints and he’s very sneaky with his hands. I kind of stopped respecting him maybe in the first round, I don’t know what I did, but he caught me with a right to the middle. That’s something I should have been aware of, but he still caught me. I was definitely impressed with his performance. I had to dig deeper, but that’s okay. I don’t mind going deeper,” he concluded.

At 36 years old, Dariush won again after more than a year. Currently ranked ninth in the lightweight category (up to 70,3kg), the athlete told SUPER LUTAS that he still intends to pursue the belt, which currently belongs to Ilia Topuria.