In his first fight in just over 18 months, Beneil Dariush put on a strong showing in the Octagon, scoring a unanimous decision win over Renato Moicano at UFC 317.
After some feeling of each other's power, Dariush focused on a kick-based offense, while Moicano looked to use his reach advantage and use the power in his hands. Dariush got Moicano off balance and appeared to do damage with one of his leg kicks. Moicano, however, did tag Dariush a couple of times, resulting in some swelling around one of his eyes. The two would exchange, with both men having their moments, before Moicano knocked Dariush down with a right hand. Dariush would scramble as Moicano got to Dariush's back. Dariush got to his feet, but Moicano landed some more shots as Dariush recovered right as the round ended.
Dariush landed a strong left hand early, and Moicano responded by attempting to wrestle. Dariush got to Moicano's back on more than one occasion, using his wrestling to nullify Moicano's offense and waste his energy. In the clinch, Dariush got the better of Moicano again before dumping him back to the mat. Dariush controlled the rest of the round from the top position, adding in some ground-and-pound before the horn.
Dariush got the action back to the ground in the third, but Moicano reversed it and tried to get to Dariush's back -- only for Dariush to get free. Moicano clinched Dariush up briefly before a striking battle during the third, with Dariush seemingly getting the upper hand before scoring another takedown and pressuring Moicano until Moicano gets back to his feet with 90 seconds to go.
A drained Moicano could do nothing, however, as Dariush cruised to a decision win.
Beneil Dariush Uses Takedowns, Grappling To Score Win Over Renato Moicano At UFC 317
This is Dariush's first win in three years, having suffered defeats to Charles Oliveira and Arman Tsarukyan in 2023 and not competing in 2024.
Moicano has now lost back-to-back fights for the first time since 2019. He was defeated by Islam Makhachev in a last-minute lightweight title bout at UFC 311.