Beneil Dariush is looking to put an end to the 12-fight unbeaten streak of Rashid Magomedov when they face off on November 5 at The Ultimate Fighter Latin America 3 Finale.
Dariush (13-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC) is currently ranked No 9 in the UFC 155lb division and is coming into the fight off of an outstanding first round knockout over James Vick at UFC 199. This gave Dariush his first knockout in the UFC.
Italian born American accepted the Vick fight on short notice stepping in for the injured Evan Dunham and was able to get back to winning ways after previously suffering a submission loss to Michael Chiesa which saw his five fight winning streak come to an end.
The 27 year-old has a difficult fight ahead of him with Magomendov who is unbeaten in the UFC. Despite this Dariush seemed full of confidence when asked about his upcoming opponent in an interview with the Daily Star: “In all honestly, I don’t feel uncomfortable in any aspect of it all and I am more than ready for this latest challenge”.
“I love fighting tough guys. My last opponent was 5-0 in the UFC and Rashid is also unbeaten in it”.
“As long as they keep giving me tough guys like this, I don’t really care. I just want to fight the best guys in the world and, right now, that’s just what I am doing.”
Magomedov (19-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) is ranked 15 and is currently on a 12-fight win streak with a perfect record of 4-0 in the UFC. The Dagestan born fighter last win was a unanimous decision over Gilbert Burns in November 2015. This win rounded off what was his third consecutive fight in Brazil after previously finishing Elias Silverio with only three seconds left of their fight at UFC Fight Night 58 and a point’s victory over Rodrigo Damm.
The Russian was set to face off against Chris Wade in May but was forced to pull out due to a knee injury meaning when he steps back into the Octagon on November 5 it will be two days short of one year since the win over Burns.
Since debuting and having three fights in 2014, Magomedov only fought once in 2015 and his match-up against Dariush will be his first bout of 2016.
If the UFC rankings and the recent victories on both fighters records are anything to go by this fight could easily challenge for Fight of the Night.
