Beneil Dariush thinks his religious views and social media inactivity are holding him back

“I don’t know if it’s the fact that I speak so much of my faith or the fact that I’m just not very confrontational when it comes to the meetings,” Dariush said in a recent interview.

“There seems to be this approach in MMA right now on how to make fights bigger, you talk a little bit of smack, you have an altercation in the back room or something, stuff like that builds fights. You’re not really going to see me involved in stuff like that. So I think that’s the reason why you don’t see me get pushed so much.”

He added: “Also, I’m not a big fan of social media, I try to stay away from it as much as I can. I’ll respond to people here and there. But overall, I prefer to spend my time with my family. And so all that plays into it. I understand the UFC is profit driven and maybe I’m not their ideal candidate, but I have to be honest to the person that I am, and I have to be faithful to my Creator and go forth like that. So it’s just, I get the situation. I’m not mad at anybody. I get what they need to do and I know what I need to do and that’s how I go forward.”