UFC Perth video: Quillan Salkilld stunned early, storms back with devastating knockout over Beneil Dariush

PERTH, AUSTRALIA - MAY 02: (L-R) Quillan Salkilld of Australia punches Beneil Dariush of Iran in a lightweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at RAC Arena on May 02, 2026 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Ed Mulholland/Zuffa LLC)

Quillan Salkilld took another step forward in his march up the lightweight ranks after knocking out Beneil Dariush in devastating fashion in the UFC Perth co-main event.

Before he got the finish, Salkilld endured a little bit of adversity after Dariush was aggressive from the start and clipped him with a jab that dropped the rising lightweight star to the canvas. Salkilld was quick to get back to his feet as he resisted takedown attempts from Dariush.

A moment later, Salkilld got some separation and started unloading shots in succession as Dariush just couldn’t weather the storm. Dariush eventually crumbled to the canvas with Salkilld continued to drop bombs until the referee saw enough to stop the fight.

The end came at 3:29 in the opening round as Salkilld moved to 5-0 in the UFC with four finishes along the way.

“I knew he was going to wrestle,” Salkilld said about the fight. “We ended up having a bit of a scrap. Us Aussies are f*cking tough so it’s going to take a lot more than that to put us away. F*ck yeah.

“I think [Mateusz] Gamrot had a good last fight, I’d like to have a tussle with him. I think that’s the next step up for me.”

A furious exchange to open the fight saw Dariush clip Salkilld with a jab and the Australian suffered a flash knockdown. Dariush looked to take advantage as he grabbed onto the body lock and use his grappling game but Salkilld resisted as best he could.

After coming up short on the takedown, Dariush pulled away and tried to catch Salkilld with a punch but he couldn’t quite connect. That opening was all Salkilld needed, however, to begin pursuing Dariush with hard, heavy punches as he chased him down across the cage.

With Dariush backing up, Salkilld just started launching punches with several slipping through to land on the chin. The barrage of strikes sent Dariush to the ground and Salkilld was quick to follow him there as the assault continued until the fight was stopped.