"He is without a doubt the toughest guy I've fought so far" - Beneil Dariush applauds Mateusz Gamrot's skills after UFC 280 win

Beneil Dariush defeated Mateusz Gamrot by unanimous decision at UFC 280. The No.4-ranked lightweight recently shared that his opponent was the toughest matchup of his career thus far.

Speaking to Marc Raimondi of ESPN MMA, Dariush stated:

"He is without a doubt the toughest guy I've fought so far... No disrespect to my past opponents, but the pace he puts on, the desire to get you down and break you while he gets you down there and I think he's really good. I would definitely put him up there, and, in reality, I think he's actually the future of the division. He's gonna be in the top-five, top-ten and competing for the belt one day."

Dariush's victory likely would have earned him an opportunity to fight Islam Makhachev for the lightweight title, if not for Alexander Volkanovski's desire to chase double champ status. Instead, Dariush will now have to defeat another top lightweight contender before earning the first title opportunity of his career. He is currently on an eight-fight win streak and has not lost in nearly five years.

Watch Beneil Dariush share his thoughts on Mateusz Gamrot below (starting at the 2:27 mark):

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Beneil Dariush felt that he didn't dominate Mateusz Gamrot enough

Despite a strong showing against Mateusz Gamrot at UFC 280, Beneil Dariush recently shared that he didn't feel as though he was dominant enough in the bout. In the same interview with ESPN MMA (starting at the 0:35 mark), Dariush revealed that after watching the fight, he felt that it was very close:

"I felt confident overall, but at the same time, it felt really close in the fight and then when I watched it now, I was like, 'Oh yeah, it is close.' I know some people were saying, 'Oh, no, he was pretty dominant,' but little things here, little things there, and the fight would've been different. It would've been different results so it was a really close fight and that's just a testament to how good he is."

Dariush added that he is now looking to face a top-five opponent in his next fight. Although his coaches and management have advised him to wait until he receives a title opportunity, the lightweight contender noted that his love for fighting will likely bring him back to the cage sooner.