Beneil Dariush open to Paddy Pimblett vs. King Green winner: 'I mean, sure'

MANCHESTER, England – Beneil Dariush could find an opponent out of Saturday’s UFC 304 featured bout.

Lightweights Paddy Pimblett (21-3 MMA, 5-0 UFC) and King Green (32-15-1 MMA, 13-10-1 UFC) square off on the main card (pay-per-view, ESPN2, ESPN+) at Co-op Live in Manchester, England.

Dariush has paid close attention to the fight, and while he sees Pimblett as the more well-rounded fighter, he thinks Green’s experience could help him prevail.

“If you look at the styles, most people would say that Paddy needs to grapple,” Dariush told MMA Junkie. “But I think his striking is quite underrated, as well. I think he has more tools to win. That being said, Bobby Green finds a way to win.

“He’s won some fights that I didn’t think he was going to win, and he pulled it off. I think this could be a similar situation. He does well under pressure, so this pressure could really work in his favor.”

Once owner of one of the longest winning streaks at 155 pounds, Dariush finds himself on a losing skid after back-to-back stoppage losses to Charles Oliveira and Arman Tsarukyan. Although he’d like to continue fighting the upper echelon of the division, he wouldn’t say no to the winner of Pimblett vs. Green.

“I mean, sure,” Dariush said. “I don’t know if they’re in the rankings quite yet, but rankings haven’t meant much to me in general. If the UFC calls me and says this is the name, then that’s the name. It’s always been like that for me. I’ve gotten to call out a few people a few times and it’s never actually worked out, so I prefer to let the UFC give me a call and we figure it out.”

Dariush took some time off after getting stopped in two straight fights, but his return has been further delayed due to a meniscus injury. He hopes to be back by the end of the year.

“My goal was actually to fight late summer, so (originally) in like a month from now,” Dariush said. “Now I think hopefully end of the year, maybe October, possibly November. That’s more my goal now.”