Beneil Dariush cemented his status as a rising lightweight contender with a dominant decision victory over a fading Tony Ferguson at UFC 262, before calling out billionaire businessman Elon Musk in a bizarre post-fight rant.
Dariush earned a lopsided decision win against Ferguson in the co-main event at the Toyota Center in Houston, enjoying success on the feet and almost total control on the ground to extend the Iranian-born star’s winning run to seven fights.
At one stage it looked as if Dariush would get a submission win when he secured an excruciating heel hook, although despite appearing in agony Ferguson refused to tap and eventually broke free, surviving to meet his fate on the scorecards.
After Dariush was declared a 30-27 winner across all three cards, the lightweight star went on an epic post-fight rant involving Tesla CEO Musk and an apparent late delivery for a vehicle.
“I wanna call somebody out,” Dariush screamed at UFC pundit Joe Rogan.
“I wanna call out your buddy, Elon. Elon Musk, where’s my wife’s car, bro? I’ve been waiting six months.
"I’ve had the baby, I need a good car, I gotta protect my daughter. Let’s go Elon, get me my car.”
The 32-year-old went on to dedicate his victory to everyone “affected by Marxist ideologies,” as some fans online labeled the scenes cringeworthy.
“Worse than Cejudo,” wrote one fan, referring to former two-weight UFC ‘King of Cringe’ Henry Cejudo, a man known for his own wince-inducing statements.
“Weirdest sh*t I’ve ever heard lol,” replied another fan.
Others joked that Dariush's stock would plummet after his broadside at the billionaire entrepreneur.
Dariush was reminded at the post-fight press conference that Musk was set to become his boss after being added to the board of directors of the UFC's parent company, Endeavor.
“I’m sorry, Elon, but I’m not sorry. I’m sticking with what I said,” replied the fighter defiantly.
Dariush’s performance during the contest was far more impressive than his post-fight rant, as he overwhelmed Ferguson from the outset.
“Now I’m in the conversation,” Dariush said. “That was my 20th fight in the UFC, I’m finally in the conversation. I’d like to see myself in a title eliminator.”
On almost getting the submission when he had a heel hook in place, Dariush said Ferguson must be a “zombie” for having survived the pain.
“It popped. Tony looked at me like nothing happened, but it popped... He’s a zombie, no doubt about it.”
Former interim lightweight champion Ferguson, 37, remained ashen-faced as the decision was read out, with ‘El Cucuy’ going from a 12-fight winning streak to suffering three losses on the spin and surely finding himself out of the title frame for good.
In the main event of the night, Brazil’s Charles Oliveira was crowned lightweight king after he knocked out Michael Chandler in the second round of their contest for the vacant 155lbs title.
Most observers have tipped the winner of the Conor McGregor vs Dustin Poirier trilogy fight to be the first name up for Oliveira in his maiden title defense.
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