Beneil Dariush reveals wife's fury at UFC 311 title fight snub

Beneil Dariush was left disappointed after a possible shot at the UFC lightweight title went to his rival instead of himself. But, as he explained, his reaction was nothing compared to his wife's.

Chatting to Submission Radio, Dariush revealed that he had been made aware that there could be an opportunity to potentially fight for the title at UFC 311, so he set to work on making sure he hit championship weight at the official weigh-ins.

"I get down to 156 actually pretty easily," he explained.

"I get down to 156 three hours before weigh ins. And then I was like, 'OK, I got one more pound,' so I take a little break and then I cut the last pound."

Dariush successfully hit championship weight on the official scale, then waited to get the news of whether or not he'd be stepping in to face Makhachev for the title.

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Unfortunately for him, it was the latter, as his originally scheduled opponent, Renato Moicano, was handed the opportunity to step up and face Makhachev for the title.

The news left Dariush disappointed, and his wife angry at the man who delivered the unfortunate news, his manager Ali Abdelaziz.

"I get on the scale at 9:00am, I start rehydrating, I go back to my room and Ali walks in and he says to me, 'Yeah, so they gave the fight to Moicano. They're going to take care of you as far as payment – show and win. But you're not fighting tomorrow.'

"I was upset, obviously. A chance to fight for the title. I was super-upset, but I also was like, at least I can take care of my family.

"But man, my wife couldn't hide it at all. You could see it in my wife's face. When she heard that, I thought she was going to kill Ali!

"I felt bad for Ali for a second, and I was like, dang, man. She was not happy because all night she thought I was going to fight for the title. And so she's like, 'Oh, he has to make 155. The extra pound is not easy,' stuff like that. I know what's going through her mind.

"So I just kind of had to calm her down a bit, and then I kind of had to process it myself."

With the disappointment subsiding, and with Dariush fit and ready to go, he's now awaiting a fresh assignment from the UFC, and he explained that he's waiting for a call from the UFC's chief business officer Hunter Campbell and matchmaker Sean Shelby with news of his next opponent.

"I spoke with Hunter, and a little bit with Sean, as well," he said.

"Hunter basically said they were going to get to the drawing board Monday or Tuesday, and they are going to call me. So I'm pretty much waiting on them now. That's where we're at.

"In an ideal world, I would get someone ranked ahead of me, and the options are Dustin Poirier, Max Holloway, or (Michael) Chandler."

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