Beneil Darisuh Says The Hard Sparring At Kings MMA Has Made Him Better
Beneil Darisuh Says The Hard Sparring At Kings MMA Has Made Him Better
Beneil Dariush says the hard sparring sessions at Kings MMA have improved him as a mixed martial artist.
Beneil Dariush is a UFC lightweight you need to keep an eye on.
Since entering the UFC in 2014, the 27-year-old fighter has quickly built a reputation as one of the most exciting fighters in the 155-pound division thanks to his relentless pace and pressure.
Speaking during the FloCombat Road Trip at Kings MMA in Huntington Beach, California, Dariush explained that the training center was the perfect environment for him to get better every day.
"Monday through Thursday you got light sparring, technique and all that good stuff, but on Friday, Friday is a fight, man," Dariush said. "You come here, you do your warm up and you get the butterflies and you try and get the butterflies out before you start sparring and then you go.
"Today I was little bit tired so I was like, 'I'm going to scare these guys off with some power shots so hopefully they will stay off me and won't realize that I'm exhausted.' Today was awesome, I had some great sparring partners."
While some gyms in the world might be lessening the intensity of their sparring sessions, Dariush said this wasn't totally happening at Kings MMA. The UFC lightweight contender said that the sparring sessions every Friday are about pushing each other to the limits. To him, there is a clear benefit from it.
"It's crazy, man, I go from [training with] an ACB champion, to a GLORY contender, Giga Chidkaze," Dariush said. "It's like, when am I going to get a break in these rounds? When am I going to get a guy who takes it easy or I can handle?
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"I don't get easy sparring, and I don't get to win rounds every day. I think that's one of the reasons why it's so good here--I'm winning rounds in my fights because I'm losing rounds in the gym."
For Dariush, it's currently all about preparing for his showdown with fellow Brazilian contender, Edson Barboza. Fans are expecting big things from the pair of them given their exciting styles, and Dariush doesn't expect for a minute they will let anyone down.
"I think it's exciting," Dariush said regarding fighting Barboza. "He has to be 100 percent focused and I have to be the same thing--100-percent focused. He's going to try and be aggressive, and I'm going to try and be aggressive too. If he wants to come forward, then I'll do the same thing and we can meet in the center and see where it goes from there."
While others in the division are focused on the title fights, for Dariush it's simply all about having good fights and testing himself. The title is seemingly a goal, but it's not something he says he's obsessed with.
"I think it's pretty cool," Dariush said. "I don't think about the title shot too much anymore, I just want to fight the best guys in the world and if the title shot comes then it comes, but I'm not too concerned with that. Just being in the Octagon is a blessing and I want to fight the best guys before I retire so that I know I fought the best guys in my division. I never said no to a fight.
"I want more [fights with] guys like James Vick--the guy is awesome. Rashid Magomedov is an amazing fighter and now I got Edson Barboza who is another amazing fighter. As long as I can keep getting guys like this I don't care if there is a metal belt or not."
Since entering the UFC in 2014, the 27-year-old fighter has quickly built a reputation as one of the most exciting fighters in the 155-pound division thanks to his relentless pace and pressure.
Speaking during the FloCombat Road Trip at Kings MMA in Huntington Beach, California, Dariush explained that the training center was the perfect environment for him to get better every day.
"Monday through Thursday you got light sparring, technique and all that good stuff, but on Friday, Friday is a fight, man," Dariush said. "You come here, you do your warm up and you get the butterflies and you try and get the butterflies out before you start sparring and then you go.
"Today I was little bit tired so I was like, 'I'm going to scare these guys off with some power shots so hopefully they will stay off me and won't realize that I'm exhausted.' Today was awesome, I had some great sparring partners."
While some gyms in the world might be lessening the intensity of their sparring sessions, Dariush said this wasn't totally happening at Kings MMA. The UFC lightweight contender said that the sparring sessions every Friday are about pushing each other to the limits. To him, there is a clear benefit from it.
"It's crazy, man, I go from [training with] an ACB champion, to a GLORY contender, Giga Chidkaze," Dariush said. "It's like, when am I going to get a break in these rounds? When am I going to get a guy who takes it easy or I can handle?
[tweet url="https://www.instagram.com/p/BQoXKhEgTi5/?taken-by=beneildariush" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
"I don't get easy sparring, and I don't get to win rounds every day. I think that's one of the reasons why it's so good here--I'm winning rounds in my fights because I'm losing rounds in the gym."
For Dariush, it's currently all about preparing for his showdown with fellow Brazilian contender, Edson Barboza. Fans are expecting big things from the pair of them given their exciting styles, and Dariush doesn't expect for a minute they will let anyone down.
"I think it's exciting," Dariush said regarding fighting Barboza. "He has to be 100 percent focused and I have to be the same thing--100-percent focused. He's going to try and be aggressive, and I'm going to try and be aggressive too. If he wants to come forward, then I'll do the same thing and we can meet in the center and see where it goes from there."
While others in the division are focused on the title fights, for Dariush it's simply all about having good fights and testing himself. The title is seemingly a goal, but it's not something he says he's obsessed with.
"I think it's pretty cool," Dariush said. "I don't think about the title shot too much anymore, I just want to fight the best guys in the world and if the title shot comes then it comes, but I'm not too concerned with that. Just being in the Octagon is a blessing and I want to fight the best guys before I retire so that I know I fought the best guys in my division. I never said no to a fight.
"I want more [fights with] guys like James Vick--the guy is awesome. Rashid Magomedov is an amazing fighter and now I got Edson Barboza who is another amazing fighter. As long as I can keep getting guys like this I don't care if there is a metal belt or not."