UFC Fight Night 35’s Beneil Dariush expecting nerves – and a bonus for mom

Beneil Dariush knows he’ll have some nerves on Wednesday, and for him, that’s perfect.

Dariush (6-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) will meet Charlie Brenneman (19-5 MMA, 4-4 UFC) to open up UFC Fight Night 35. It will be Dairush’s UFC debut and Brenneman’s first fight back with the company after going 4-0 outside the promotion.

UFC Fight Night 35 takes place at Arena at Gwinnett Center in Duluth, Ga. The main card airs on FOX Sports 1 following prelims on the same network. The Dariush-Brenneman bout opens the card on the UFC Fight Pass digital network.

Dariush originally was called to fight Jason High on short notice after Adlan Amagov was forced out. But then High was forced out and Brenneman got the call. Either way, the Californian was going to be in new territory.

“When I got the call, I couldn’t believe it,” Dariush told MMAjunkie Radio. “At first, I thought my manager was pulling (a joke on me). He had been telling me, ‘I’m talking to the UFC,’ I thought to kind of keep my hopes up. But when I finally got the call, it was incredible.”

And he realizes that he’s going to have those famed octagon jitters. And while some fighters might hope against having that bout of pre-fight nerves, that’s not the case for Dariush.

When he gets them, he’ll know he’s right where he’s supposed to be.

“To say I’m not going to have jitters would be a lie,” he said. “I think everybody goes through that, but it’s normal. If you don’t feel those, it means you don’t really care. If you don’t get nervous, you shouldn’t be there. Being in the octagon for 15 minutes or less is the closest thing to being alive for a fighter. If I didn’t feel those, I’d be very disappointed.”

Unbeaten so far in his young career, Dariush has a pair of knockouts and three submissions. But he has just six overall fights. Making it to the UFC with such little experience is a rarity.

But Dariush said he’s counting on his extensive jiu-jitsu tournament experience to make up for a little of that. What there’s no changing at this point, though, is that his mom knows about the UFC’s bonus program – which shells out $50,000 each card for the best knockout, submission and fight.

And now his mom is counting on him getting one of those. No pressure or anything.

“The bonuses are more on my mind now ever since I told my mother about them,” he said. “She was like, ‘Really? You’re going to get it for sure!’ and has been talking about it nonstop. For me, I really just want to be able to go out there and fight and put on a good show and show all my skills.”

One of those skills might just have to be his wrestling. That’s where Brenneman excels.

But Dariush believes there’s almost no reason to wonder just how close the two are in that department until they get in the cage.

“I feel like my wrestling’s really good. But he’s a high-level wrestler,” Dariush said. “I know MMA wrestling is different, but we’ve seen him have a lot of success in MMA with his wrestling. The only way to find out how my wrestling’s going to compare to his is when we fight. I think there are so many other aspects to MMA that that’s going to make the difference. It’s not just the wrestling.”

And that’s where one of those bonuses might come into play, Mom. Dariush has scouted the card, and he knows the submission award might be tough. But that’s OK.

“Cole Miller’s there, and I think he’s really awesome – he’s got good jiu-jitsu. But knockout could happen, too – you never really know. I’ve had two knockouts in my last four fights.”

For more on UFC Fight Night 35, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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