Following the abrupt cancellation of his fight against Manuel Torres at UFC 327 due to the Mexican’s injury, fans expected Dana White to give Beneil Dariush a replacement on the same card. Instead, the UFC CEO moved him from the marquee event to a Fight Night lineup. While it may look like a demotion, Dariush doesn’t seem too bothered by it.

On May 2nd, ‘Benny’ will be en route to Australia as he’s set to face up-and-coming star Quillan Salkilld at UFC Fight Night Perth’s co-main event. For the first time in his career, the UFC veteran will compete on Australian soil, and he appears to be very excited about it.

“Yeah man, I was stoked,” Dariush told Submission Radio, “I was hoping for Sydney, but I’ll take Perth. I’m not complaining. I’m excited. I hope to see Assyrians there. I’m pretty sure that I’m going to stay a little extra, planning to visit Sydney and then Melbourne if I have the energy. You know, getting old and getting a little tired a little bit faster. You go to bed a little earlier. We’ll see how it goes.”

For the unfamiliar, Beneil Dariush might fight out of Huntington Beach, California, but he actually hails from the Assyrian community. In Australia, especially in the city of Sydney, there’s a notable Assyrian population who might fly to Perth to watch their own star fight at a crowded. For that reason, the 36-year-old is hyped to fight in the Land Down Under, as he expects to put on a show for the compatriot fans who might be present there.

Moreover, back in 2023, Dariush originally targeted a fight against Charles Oliveira at UFC 284, which took place at the RAC Arena in Perth. However, the UFC did not finalize that matchup for the Australian card and later scheduled the bout for UFC 289, where ‘Do Bronxs’ defeated ‘Benny’ via first-round finish. Now, after all those twists and turns, the #12-ranked lightweight will finally tick off a bucket-list moment by fighting in Australia.

Taking all that into account, although Dana White moved Beneil Dariush from a main-card spot in Miami, he seems to have found a silver lining, as the Assyrian fighter now gets the chance to compete in Australia. That said, while ‘Benny’ has landed a special opportunity, he’ll still have to deal with a very tough opponent, and he believes Quillan Salkilld might be an even tougher matchup than his originally scheduled opponent. 

Beneil Dariush believes Quillan Salkilld is more dangerous than Manuel Torres

Ahead of UFC 327, fans believed Manuel Torres would have been a tough challenge for Beneil Dariush to overcome. The reason? According to the majority of fans, the Mexican’s power would prove too much for ‘Benny’ to handle, especially after Benoit Saint-Denis knocked him out at UFC 322 last year.

But after the UFC matched him up against Salkilld, not only have fans started believing the difficulty has increased, Dariush himself seems to think the same. Why? The veteran lightweight believes the Aussie’s all-around game makes him an even more dangerous prospect than his previous opponent. 

“He’s very complete. He’s well-rounded. It’s actually very cool to see, for an older guy like me, a younger guy like him have such a good skillset. He has it all,” Dariush said in a Submission Radio interview. “He can wrestle, bro. You can’t make fun of Australia’s wrestling team anymore. That boy can wrestle, he can strike.

His boxing isn’t bad, his kicks are great. Like, he’s good, man. He’s not lacking anywhere. He has got jiu-jitsu, he can submit you anywhere. In a way, I think he’s more dangerous, as he’s more well-rounded than Manuel Torres,” he added.

To be fair, Beneil Dariush is definitely right to anticipate the threat here. So far, Salkilld has stormed the 155 lbs division not only with highlight-reel knockouts, like his head kick finish over Nasrat Haqparast at UFC 321, but also with slick grappling. The Aussie even secured a clean submission win against Jamie Mullarkey at UFC 325, showing how dangerous he can be on the mat as well.

With that in mind, the rising Aussie prospect definitely looks like a tough problem for anyone in the division, not just Dariush. That said, can ‘Benny’ prove he is still the more experienced fighter by defeating Quillan Salkilld at UFC Perth? Let us know in the comments section below.