Beneil Dariush addresses career 'drought,' controversial Alexander Hernandez opening at UFC 222

Beneil Dariush isn’t prepared to label Alexander Hernandez as a dirty fighter following some questionable fight-opening tactics at UFC 222 earlier this month.

Hernandez (9-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) entered the lightweight fight as a short-notice replacement and relative unknown. He displayed tremendous power in scoring a 42-second knockout of Dariush (14-5-1 MMA, 8-4-1 UFC) for one of the biggest upsets of the year so far, but it was the opening seconds of the bout that generated the most attention.

As soon as the referee instructed the athletes to fight, Hernandez charged toward Dariush with his hands out. He insists it was a maneuver to gauge distance, but many, including Dariush, interpreted it as an attempt to touch gloves. Hernandez landed his first meaningful strike shortly thereafter, and from there it was a mad dash to finish the fight.

Hernandez has attempted to explain himself but still has received much criticism. Dariush, however, said he’s not ready to assign any harsh labels, even if he admits he thought Hernandez’s movement was an attempted glove touch.

“It’s kind of strange, because I thought he was trying to touch gloves because he had his hand out,” Dariush told MMAjunkie. “But maybe he was looking to measure distance. I’ve had so many fights and normally I just come out and touch gloves, maybe I’d just built a bad habit. With that being said, I made a mistake in judgement thinking he was coming out to touch gloves.

“It’s too early to tell if he’s a dirty fighter. That was his first fight in the UFC. He’ll have more fights and then I’ll have a better idea of what kind of guy he is. I’m not going to judge him on just one action.”

The outcome against Hernandez stings more than Dariush’s other losses. “The Great” is not a proven talent on the level of an Edson Barboza or Michael Chiesa, who are the only others to get the better of Dariush in the past four years. What makes matters worse, Dariush said, is that he’s having difficulty pinpointing where or how things went awry.

“It’s strange, because it was so fast, it’s hard to take too much away from it,” Dariush said. “The frustrating thing, too, is I had one of the best weight cuts, one of the best camps I’ve ever had. Everything was sailing really good. Then to go in there and to lose like that, it’s a big setback for me. That hardest thing is getting back mentally, but thank God I’m actually feeling really motivated. I’m back to work already, and that makes me happy.”

Dariush, 28, had no excuses for his loss to Hernandez. He said the fact his opponent was switched from a noted veteran in Bobby Green to a UFC newcomer just over a week out from the event was something he was prepared for.

There’s no easy way to get over a result like what happened at UFC 222, Dariush said. It was by far the quickest loss of his career, and while certainly devastating, Dariush said it was imperative to his future success that he not tear himself down and self-loath for too long.

“Beating yourself up – I don’t think that stops – you don’t stop thinking about it, and you continue to replay it,” Dariush said. “But as far as turning the corner, as soon as I got back home, the last thing I wanted to do was leave the house. I just wanted to stay inside and just eat food or be depressed. Then I was like, ‘I can’t do this. It’s going to be a super long recovery, and I’m not going to get back to fighting anytime soon.’ One of the things I did that was really important is I got back up, and I left the house, and I started teaching jiu-jitsu.

“I think one of the hardest things for fighters is they don’t want to go out there and face people. I don’t really want to talk about it. I don’t want to face people. I don’t want them to pity me or say, ‘Oh, things happen.’ I don’t want to make excuses and have people try to make me feel better. I’ll carry the weight by myself. I know they’re doing it out of love, so it’s a hard thing to face. But it’s necessary. The faster you face that, the faster you’re able to overcome the crappy feeling of the fight.”

Dariush might be back in the gym teaching classes, but he said a return to hard training is still in the offing. The Nevada State Athletic Commission gave Dariush a 45-day medical suspension after the knockout, but he said he usually self-imposes more time away from sparring to “make sure there are no injuries and my brain is 100 percent.”

When the time comes that Dariush is cleared and fit to compete, he said he’ll be ready to get back in the octagon. The loss to Hernandez marked Dariush’s third consecutive fight without a win, and whether or not people believe his majority draw with Evan Dunham at UFC 216 in October should have actually gone his way, it’s still not a position he wants to be in.

Although his situation isn’t ideal, Dariush said he’s forever an optimist. It’s rare that a fighter goes through an entire career without some turbulent and difficult moments, and while Dariush is in the midst of his, he said he’s going to come out on the other end better for it.

“I’ve been in a drought without a doubt,” Dariush said. “I’m definitely in a drought, but I’ve noticed this is the time where you think the clearest and you focus on the most important things, and you don’t let anything else get in the way. I may be in a drought right now, but if I continue to stay focused and set my eyes on the right things, I think I’m going to come out of this drought and come out of it stronger than before.”

For complete coverage of UFC 222, check out the UFC Events section of the site.