Alan Jouban sympathizes with Beneil Dariush after he earned an eighth straight win at UFC 280, yet it’s Alexander Volkanovski who will almost certainly get the next shot at the lightweight title.
Despite a stellar record and recent victory over Mateusz Gamrot, Dariush is still waiting in line while Volkanovski is expected to move up from featherweight and fight Islam Makhachev, likely at UFC 284 in February.
This scenario could have been played regardless of Dariush’s win, but Jouban stated that the lightweight competitor did him no favors and refused to give the title shot.
“I told everyone that Beneil won the fight at Bristol ESPN. I said, “Beneil wins, he should take that mic and give out a title shot,”” Jouban stated on The Fighter. The Writer. “It better not go to, ‘Thank you lord savior Jesus Christ, thank you to my coach, thank you to my wife,’ and it ended there. That’s a shooting in the eye.
“He won the fight, and that’s all he did — I don’t think religious people should get mad at my — but I know where I am going with this. Then you can thank God and move on. You can’t make the whole thing about religion and family and whoever’s next I’m happy with it. No!
” If you would like the title shot you must say that you want this belt. I am next in line and on the same card. Whoever wins tonight between Islam and Oliveira, I’m next in line! You have to make a soundbite for the UFC to promote this fight. But if they have nothing to promote a possible matchup, how are they going to make that matchup? He stepped in front .”
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During his career, Jouban never had the opportunity to call out competitors, and this may have prevented him from being able to pursue marquee matches. Dariush is given the exact same advice that Jouban would give himself, if he had to do it again.
“His nickname doesn’t spring to mind as if Beneil Dariush was killing it! Unless you’re an enthusiast,” Jouban said. For the majority of fans, Beneil doesn’t exist and they aren’t sure if it would help him.
“It bugs me because this is one of the things when young fighters ask me advice, this is the advice I give them because this is what I would have changed about me. I was always in war mode when I go into fights and then I’d get interviewed and I would be honest but I wouldn’t call for the shot. It wouldn’t be me to take my personality and make it sound like I wanted a top-five guy. I would rather fight the champion! 15 You’re asking for No. 1, it puts you in that conversation. You think .”
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To his credit, Dariush has always stayed genuine to his personality without attempting to goad opponents into fights by making outlandish statements for the sake of creating headlines.
Jouban understands that Dariush doesn’t want to seem disingenuous, but there are plenty of ways to call for a title shot without crossing a personal boundary with trash talk.
Jouban stated that
” Beneil is worthy of the shot. He deserves it after removing everyone he has taken out. Beneil needs a better PR team. Somebody behind him needs to get behind him. Anyone who has ever had the pleasure of meeting Beneil knows that he is the greatest man ever. He is a great guy. I have met him and we’ve had a lot of fun. A solid guy, he will help you roll, and show you things while you train. He is too kind. He doesn’t appreciate nice people.
” You have to ask for something. It is necessary to make a demand. A soundbite is necessary. It would be nice if Beneil had done more to make his shot sound better and made it more appealing .”
Eventually, Jouban knows that time will catch up to Dariush and he may miss out on ever competing for gold in the UFC.
“Not only did he not call out the champ, he didn’t call out anyone above him or anyone at all,” Jouban said. “He didn’t make a single call out. He was humble and thanked all those who had helped him. Beneil is my favorite, but this was a business decision. If you make the right call out, we get the title fight.
” He has to make a change. Tony Ferguson is going to be his next opponent. He will fight all the way up to the top, then has an off night where somebody beats him. Then he goes all the way down the ladder without ever getting another shot because he never went on a 9-fight winning streak. Now .”
He has to make an intelligent decision.
