Beneil Dariush: Quillan Salkilld will be ranked, but 'this isn't his time'
Beneil Dariush is ready to maintain his spot in the rankings by stopping a rising UFC lightweight. Dariush (23-7-1 MMA, 17-7-1 UFC) takes on the streaking Quillan Salkilld (11-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) in the UFC Fight Night 275 co-main event on May 2 from RAC Arena in Perth ( Paramount+ ). Dariush was originally scheduled to face another prospect in Manuel Torres at UFC 327, but the bout was scrapped when Torres pulled out.
Now he draws a hometown fighter in Salkilld, who he sees as an even bigger threat. "Quillan is more well rounded, I would say," Dariush told MMA Junkie. "He's more willing to go to the ground.
He's more willing to go for takedowns. He's got submissions. That's the thing that changed.
I had a game plan, and it didn't require so much training all aspects of grappling. I was more focused on offensive grappling, but now I have to keep my defensive grappling sharp, too. "But striking wise, they're somewhat similar.
Not totally similar, but they're similar. I think it requires more to fight Quillan just because I have to focus on more things. But overall, they're both really dangerous fighters, and I think the kid is going to be in the top 10, top 15, just this isn't his time.