UFC 262: Tony Ferguson vs. Beneil Dariush Picks and Predictions

Tony Ferguson and Beneil Dariush face off in a lightweight bout in the co-main event of UFC 262 at the Toyota Center in Houston.

Tony Ferguson has had quite the UFC career but he has lost two fights in a row. Ferguson overall sits with a 26-5 record overall. Ferguson’s last fight came against Charles Oliveria and he was completely dominated in that fight. Ferguson was outstruck 41-19 and also taken down three times in that fight. Ferguson’s last win came back in 2019 against Donald Cerrone, a fight he won by TKO. Ferguson is averaging 5.46 significant strikes per minute while absorbing 3.94 significant strikes per minute. Ferguson is averaging 0.45 takedowns every 15 minutes but he is successful on only 42 percent of his attempts. Ferguson also stops 70 percent of his opponents takedown attempts. Ferguson is a fighter who can take a lot of damage, but in this fight he needs to try and be a little more careful about taking too much damage or this could be another long fight for him. 

On the other side of this fight is Beneil Dariush who comes into this fight with a 20-4-1 record overall and he has won six fights in a row. Dariush’s last fight against Diego Ferreria came in February of 2021 and it was competitive, but he was able to come away with the split decision victory. He had five takedowns in that fight and that seemed to be the difference. Dariush is averaging 4.00 significant strikes per minute while absorbing 2.72 significant strikes per minute. He wants to get the fight to the ground and is currently averaging 2.03 successful takedowns every 15 minutes but is only successful on 32 percent of the attempts. Dariush stops 81 percent of his opponents takedown attempts.