Fight week for UFC lightweight Beneil Dariush got off to a bad start in Las Vegas, as he missed weight for his bout against Scott Holtzman, which forced him to forfeit 20 percent of his purse, and also took him out of the running for a potential $50k fight of the night bonus.
Sure enough, in the first fight on the main card on Saturday, Dariush delivered a jaw-dropping spinning backfist KO that had his colleagues calling for Dana White to give him the bonus anyway.
Late in the first round, Dariush punished Holtzman with a series of hard shots, then backed away and caught him with a vicious backfist.
OH MY GOODNESS! @BeneilDariush w/ the spinning back fist! #UFCVegas6 on E+ pic.twitter.com/ahMwbRJkbM
— UFC (@ufc) August 9, 2020
UFC fighters were blown away.
Exactly @FelderPaul, exactly. #UFCVegas6 pic.twitter.com/pAqRxoBan9
— UFC (@ufc) August 9, 2020
Oooohhhh damn…Did well to stay alive till that wicked spinning back fist!! #UFCVegas6
— Alex Volkanovski (@alexvolkanovski) August 9, 2020
Damnnnnn @beneildariush 👀👀👀
— Frankie Edgar (@FrankieEdgar) August 9, 2020
Wow! @beneildariush is as real as they get 👏
— Neil Magny (@NeilMagny) August 9, 2020
Damn Beneil with the spinning kill shot
— Anthony Rocco Martin (@TonyRoccoMartin) August 9, 2020
Wow @beneildariush deserves a top 10 guys next wow great performance 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 #UFCVegas6
— GILBERT BURNS DURINHO (@GilbertDurinho) August 9, 2020
Damn Benni is on a roll!!! 😳#UFCVegas6
— Cub Swanson (@CubSwanson) August 9, 2020
Shiii I might dye my hair grey & black with that performance by Dariush! #UFCVegas6
— Derek Brunson (@DerekBrunson) August 9, 2020
Hey @ufc @danawhite @beneildariush Deserve the Bonus even not making weight
— Marlon Moraes (@MMARLONMORAES) August 9, 2020
Ufc I’ll cut an extra 2 pounds my next fight to make up for his missed weight just give him a bonus for that lol https://t.co/IVEOJGQV4Z
— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) August 9, 2020