Assyrian UFC Champ Beneil Dariush to Appear in Phoenix

All across America, people will head to church this morning. But in Glendale, the faithful should arrive ready to rumble.

At Peter Cathedral Assyrian Church of the East, one of the most promising UFC fighters, Beneil Dariush, the #7 lightweight in the world, will be visiting to pound some sense into his fellow Assyrian Christians.

Born in Iran in 1989, Beneil’s family emigrated to the US in the late 90s as the fundamentalist regime made things increasingly difficult on religious minorities. At Peter Cathedral, Dariush will be introducing Ric Grenell, the former US Ambassador to Germany who later served in the Trump cabinet as Acting Director of National Intelligence.

Grenell spoke to Arizona Globe this morning about today’s appearance.

“We are witnessing more war and killings in the Middle East and Europe than we ever saw under Donald Trump,” Amb. Grenell told the Globe. “Christians, Jews and Muslims all suffer when terrorists like Hamas and ISIS are allowed to roam free. It’s clear Kamala Harris is too weak to forge peace. These wars will continue if she is elected President. The Assyrian community knows this firsthand.”

The Assyrian community in Arizona has been working diligently to raise awareness to its issues. In Summer of 2021, Gov. Doug Ducey signed HB2241 mandating that the Assyrian genocide — sometimes known as “Sayfo” or “Seyfo” in the same way the Holocaust is known as the Shoah — be taught in the state’s public schools alongside the Holocaust. Last month, the Arizona Department of Education officially approved the inclusion of materials for the state’s social studies classes, making Arizona the first state to adopt the curriculum for its high schools.

The Arizona chapter of the Assyrian Genocide Research Center (AGRC), has long sought recognition of the Assyrian Genocide, which took place during World War I and killed or displaced approximately 750,000 Assyrians throughout what was then known as the Ottoman Empire. This genocide is distinct from the Armenian Genocide, but related in terms of time of occurrence and perpetrators, so it’s been difficult to raise awareness.

And it hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing for these brave Christians ever since. From the Simmele Massacre of 1933 to the savagery of ISIS in the mid 20-teens, Assyrian Christians throughout Turkey and the Middle East have regularly faced persecution.

Focusing a busy and distracted world on the plight of any beleaguered group is a struggle. You won’t see encampments on American campuses going to bat for Assyrian Christians any more than you will for thousands of Sudanese being tortured or a half million Syrians killed by the Assad regime or over a million Uyghurs who have been detained in China. Privileged college brats have clearly determined that that kind of support is reserved only for those who are being “oppressed” by Jews.

But if the effort is going to come down to a single 155-pounder, the Assyrian Christian community is lucky to have Beneil Dariush — and Ric Grenell — fighting on its side.