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UFC lightweight prospect Beneil Dariush is driven by the purity and competition of the fight game.



Quite simply, he is determined to find out if he is the toughest guy in the room. Saturday, Nov. 5, that proverbial room is a cage sitting at high elevation in Mexico City. He steps into the world famous UFC Octagon at UFC Fight Night 98 to face highly touted Russian prospect Rashid Magomedov on the main card live on Fox Sports 1.



Magomedov is one of the most technical strikers in the sport and is currently on a 12-fight winning streak. In his short time with the UFC, he's posted a flawless 4-0 run. Regardless of rankings and popularity, Dariush wants the toughest fights the organization can throw his way. He gets his wish tonight as prepares to mix it up with the tough Russian.



“At this point, I’m not looking at the ranking, but I know every fight I get is going to be one of the best guys it the world.” Dariush said. “My last opponent was 5-0 in the UFC. Rashid is 4-0 in the UFC. I am looking forward to fighting a guy like this. My goal is to finish him as fast as I can. If you are an athlete, especially in martial arts, this is the epitome of the sport. I want to fight the best of the best.”



Dariush has never fought at the high altitude he will encounter in Mexico City. He was advised about the thin air by teammate Fabricio Werdum, who captured the UFC Heavyweight title in that very city at UFC 188 by outworking and eventually stopping Cain Velasquez in the third round of their scrap via guillotine choke. In the lead up to this fight, Dariush prepared the best way he could, by training at heightened altitude in California before making the trip to Mexico.



“To prepare for this place, we went to Mammoth Lake (California) first.” Dariush said. “I got into high elevation, actually higher than Mexico City. It’s not too bad here (in Mexico City) but my first few days in Mammoth I was struggling. In training, you feel so heavy. You feel so tired. The first day I was there all I did was carry my bags up the stairs, and I felt my heart beating faster. The altitude is serious. You have to put your work in for it.”



The high-level grappler began his journey in the martial arts when, on the advice of others, he took up jiu-jitsu while studying accounting in college in 2007. That introduction to the art quickly led to a full-blown addiction, and within five years he had earned his Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt. Shortly thereafter, Dariush took his talents into the MMA world on a full-time basis.



“I started jiu-jitsu because a lot of people told me I was going to get fat in college.” Dariush said. “I was doing it every day. I was in school full time and I was working at Baskin Robbins, too. I noticed that I was scheduling everything around jiu-jitsu because I was having such a good time.



“A few months into jiu-jitsu, my coaches asked me to compete. I did and I loved it. Two years later, I had a bunch of tournaments under my belt and a bunch of victories. One day my coach asked if I wanted to take an MMA fight. I didn’t want to sound like I was scared, so I said I would take the fight. It turns out it was a professional fight. I had no idea. It was a little intimidating. I got my first fight in MMA after just doing two years of BJJ.”



Away from the fight game, the Iranian-born Dariush recently started making missionary trips around the world helping those in need. He had a life changing experience on a recent trip to Haiti when he traveled there in August to labor and help the impoverished people of the country. Dariush won’t stop there, as he plans on continuing his charity work and expanding his positive impact around the world in the months and years to come.



“That was my second trip to Haiti.” Dariush said. “We do missionary work but a lot of it is just helping out with the little things-with food and medical supplies. We bring a lot of medical gear. There are villages that have no medical doctors. The national religion there was voodoo for over 300 years. They have witch doctors that do these crazy things that make the patients worse. We try to go and help as much as we can. It’s really nice to help someone and have that person so genuinely happy to have you there. It’s a great feeling.



“I am looking at going to Iraq.” Dariush said. “Maybe after this fight. I am an Assyrian. The people being persecuted there are Christian Assyrian. It would be great to go over there and support them. That would be a prize in itself to be able to help there.”