Quillan Salkilld cracks lightweight top 15 with first-round KO of Beneil Dariush at UFC Perth

Quillan Salkilld punched his way into the UFC lightweight top 15 with a first-round knockout of Beneil Dariush in the co-main event at UFC Perth on Saturday.

Dariush dropped Salkilld with a jab seconds into the fight and grabbed a body lock looking for a takedown, but the Australian shook free and created space. Once separated, Salkilld unloaded with heavy punches that backed Dariush across the cage and eventually crumpled him to the canvas at 3:29 of the opening round, per MMA Fighting.

Salkilld calls out Gamrot after fifth straight UFC win

Salkilld improved to 5-0 in the promotion with four finishes along the way. “I knew he was going to wrestle,” Salkilld said afterward, according to MMA Fighting. “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.”

After stuffing the early grappling attempts, Salkilld chased Dariush down and landed several clean shots to the chin before following him to the mat. The ground-and-pound forced the stoppage. MMA Mania reported that Dariush was left face-first against the cage when the referee waved it off.

Salkilld called out Mateusz Gamrot, a fixture in the divisional top 15. Dariush dropped to 1-4 in his last five outings, with all four losses coming by knockout.

Original reporting:

• mmafighting.com — UFC Perth video: Quillan Salkilld stunned early, storms back with devastating knockout over Beneil Dariush | MMA Fighting
• mmamania.com — UFC Perth Highlights! Salkilld Smashes Dariush, Punches Ticket To Top 15 | MMA Mania