At an event filled with impressive performances, Baneil Dariush’s dismantling of Daron Cruickshank stood out enough at UFC 185 to earn him a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus.

Dariush (10-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) managed to win the striking battle with Cruickshank (16-6 MMA, 6-4 UFC) before submitting him with a rear-naked choke in the second round of their fight this past Saturday, which aired on the FX preliminary card portion of the event at American Airlines Center in Dallas.

The night’s main event saw Dariush’s teammate, Rafael dos Anjos, walk away as the newly crowned UFC lightweight champion.

Dariush said the two of them getting to spend time together preparing for fights brings out the best in both.

“Let me tell you, man,” Dariush told MMAjunkie Radio. “When we train together, we literally beat the sh-t out of each other, man. I’m not one to curse, but that’s pretty much what happens.”

Many fans were surprised by Dariush’s ability to beat Cruickshank in the standup game. His high-end jiu-jitsu seemed like the obvious path to victory, but Dariush used a variety of strikes, including thudding kicks to the body, to control the striking portion of the fight.

The striking part of his game is something he has worked on, and Dariush said he doesn’t believe he’s had the ability to showcase everything he brings to the table.

“The more I get experience, the more I get to open up and be more free out there,” Dariush said. “You guys will see a lot more of my striking. I work hard on my striking. I’m a black belt (in muay Thai) under Rafael Cordeiro. I’m telling you, man, you still haven’t seen much from my striking.

“I just knew I could strike with him, so I wasn’t worried. I wasn’t thinking ‘takedown, takedown.’ If it presented itself, I would take it. But that was about it.”

Dariush was even able to pinpoint a moment he believed he’d broken Cruickshank and had completely taken over the fight.

“I can’t explain it, but one of the kicks I hit him with – instead of doing anything offensive, he just started going back,” Dariush said. “And I just felt like with the kicks I was really taking control of the fight. Obviously, at the end of the first round I took him down and he was complaining about the strikes on the back of the head and I thought to myself, ‘I’m hitting right by the ear so I know these aren’t illegal strikes, the referee’s not saying anything to me.’ That’s kind of when I thought he was starting to break mentally.”

For complete coverage of UFC 185, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

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