Beneil Dariush Explains Why He Preached Christianity in Abu Dhabi: “If they do that in public, they would be killed.”
Beneil Dariush is fighting for the lord.
After earning a big win over Renato Moicano in his last outing, the perennial lightweight title contender returns to the Octagon this Saturday night at UFC 322 for a high-stakes scrap against Benoit Saint-Denis.
Before he goes toe-to-toe with the ‘God of War’ on MMA’s biggest stage, Dariush recently spoke about preaching in the name of Jesus during a trip to Abu Dhabi, where roughly 75% of the total population is Muslim.
“I did preach the name of Jesus in a Muslim majority country, but this is not like—I have genuine friends who are missionaries and … in different countries where if they do that in public, they would be killed,” Dariush said during his UFC 322 media day interview. “So I understand it’s not an easy thing to do, but it was not—sometimes we put too much on it, and I don’t want that to take away from the true people that, like, spread the gospel in dangerous areas.
“I was never in danger. … Everybody actually was very nice to me afterwards. They just wanted to make sure they clarified, ‘Listen, we believe in Jesus as a prophet and this and that,’ but there was never any danger, you know what I mean?”
“My legacy is Christ. I don’t really care what people look back [at],” Dariush added. “I did this for a lot of selfish reasons because I just love fighting, and … I hope what—even though I came in with the wrong motivation, I hope that people will remember that the reason I fought was because I have a love for the Lord.”
On Friday, Dariush weighed in at 157.2 pounds, 1.2 pounds over the limit for his non-title bout with Saint-Denis. The fight will move forward as scheduled, but ‘Benny’ will surrender 20% of his fight purse.
