He made his MMA debut at Bellator 198 against Kyle Walker and won via a toe hold in the first round. He then faced Max Humphreys at Bellator 222 and won via armbar in the first round. He was involved in a melee at UFC 229 after Khabib Nurmagomedov proceeded to throw his mouthpiece and then scaled the cage and appeared to jump towards him. He was subsequently fined $7,500 and suspended for 7 months following the incident. Throughout his career, Danis has become the subject of many controversies due to his behaviour.
Born to a Spanish-Honduran mother and Armenian father,[8] raised in Parsippany–Troy Hills, New Jersey,[9] Danis attended Parsippany Hills High School and started wrestling there as a freshman, despite the fact that he "couldn't do one pushup".[10][11] He started training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at the age of 15 after he was involved in a fight at school. At 17, Danis started making trips to Marcelo Garcia's academy in New York and at 19 he eventually moved to New York in order to actively pursue a career in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. After wins at various high-level tournaments he was awarded his black belt at 21 years of age.[5]
Mixed martial arts career
In 2016, Danis came to light in the mixed martial arts community when he was asked to join the training camp of UFC fighter Conor McGregor as a coach and training partner ahead of his rematch against Nate Diaz at UFC 202.[12] He would continue to work with Conor, helping him to prepare for the Khabib Nurmagomedov bout. Due to his image in the media prior to the fight with Diaz, Marcelo Garcia disassociated Danis from his school.[5]
Bellator MMA (2018-2019)
In 2018, Danis was scheduled to make his own MMA debut at Bellator 198 against Kyle Walker.[13] He won via a toe hold in the first round of the fight.[14] Danis’ next fight was against Max Humphreys in 2019 at Bellator 222 at a catchweight of 175lbs. Danis won the fight via armbar in the first round.[15] Danis was originally scheduled to fight again in 2020, against Kegan Gennrich at Bellator 238.[16] Previous to the scheduled bout, however, Danis received an injury and was forced to withdraw.[17]
Danis confirmed in 2023 that he has two fights left on his Bellator contract and intends to complete both of them in 2023, along with at least one more fight after.[18]
Retirement (2023)
On October 21, 2023, it was reported by Ariel Helwani that Danis had been released from his Bellator contract.[19] Danis hit the free agency market and aimed to get a deal with the UFC, but stated his intention to not participate in MMA again if he did not get signed.[20][21] A month after his exit from Bellator, Danis subsequently announced his retirement from combat sports on November 15, 2023.[22]
Cancelled bout with Mike Perry (2024)
Months after his original claim of retirement, in May 2024, Danis announced he would be returning to MMA competition.[23] He claimed to have signed his end of a contract to fight former UFC fighter and Bare Knuckle Boxing champion Mike Perry in a mixed martial arts fight.[24] Perry likewise addressed the claim and stated he was open to fighting Danis, in either BKB or MMA.[25] On September 16, Misfits Boxing CEO Mams Taylor revealed that the two fighters were originally supposed to fight on August 10 on the first ever Misfits MMA card in Miami, Florida.[26]
Global Fight League (2025–present)
Global Fight League announced on January 24, 2025 that Danis had signed a contract to make his return to MMA later that year.[27]
Danis is scheduled to face Tony Ferguson on May 11, 2025 in Los Angeles, California.[28]
Danis overall holds a grappling record of 18 wins and 16 losses, and is a seven time tournament winner, winning eleven of his fights by submission, with only a single loss coming by submission to himself.[32]
Boxing career
Original cancelled bout with KSI
On November 18, 2022, Danis made an appearance at the press conference for MF & DAZN: X Series 003 where he confronted British YouTuberKSI. During the broadcast on November 19, it was announced that Danis would face KSI on January 14, 2023, at Wembley Arena in London, England as the headliner to X Series 004.[33] However, Danis withdrew on January 4 with Mams Taylor, promoter and matchmaker for Misfits Boxing, stating the reason being that he is "underprepared, he [Danis] has no coach, he might be struggling with weight."[34] Danis was replaced by Brazilian YouTuber FaZe Temperrr.[35]
Paul and Danis moments before the start of their bout.
During the bout, Danis was disqualified in the sixth round after attempting a takedown and an illegal choke. Immediately after, a brawl broke out in the ring and security intervened.[37] Danis later announced his intention to appeal the disqualification loss.[38] On October 21, 2023, Danis officially submitted an appeal of the decision. The decision was not changed.
On February 4, 2025, it was announced that Danis' bout with KSI would be rebooked for March 29 headlining X Series 21 – Unfinished Business at Manchester Arena in Manchester.[39] Originally, KSI was scheduled to face English former footballerWayne Bridge, but the bout was cancelled after Bridge withdrew on 20 January resulting in Danis signing on as the replacement opponent.[40]
At UFC 229, Danis—a member of Conor McGregor's corner team—was involved in a melee when Khabib Nurmagomedov, after submitting McGregor, proceeded to throw his mouthpiece at McGregor's corner team and then scaled the cage and appeared to jump towards Danis.[42] Danis responded by throwing punches at Khabib before an all-out brawl ensued.[43] Longtime UFC commentator Joe Rogan has claimed that Danis was insulting Nurmagomedov in an attempt to provoke him stating, "Dillon (Danis) was absolutely insulting Khabib, saying something to him and provoking him and then Khabib just jumped over the cage and attacked him".[44] Danis was subsequently fined $7,500 and suspended for 7 months following the incident.[45] Danis did not comment publicly until March 11, 2019, where he told Ariel Helwani on the ESPN MMA podcast that Khabib started taunting him in the second or third round and was aggressive throughout the event.[46]
New Jersey arrest
Danis was arrested on September 18, 2021, after getting into an altercation with a bouncer outside a nightclub in New Jersey where Danis was overpowered, restrained, and choked out.[47][48] Danis later claimed that the bouncer and bartenders from the nightclub were at fault for the altercation, and that officers released him after approximately twenty minutes.[49]
Danis was removed from the building at UFC 268 on November 6, 2021, after getting into an altercation with MMA manager Ali Abdelaziz where he was slapped by Abdelaziz.[51]
Endorsement of cryptocurrency scams
In February 2023, Stephen "Coffeezilla" Findeisen, a YouTuber known for exposing cryptocurrency scams,[52] accused Danis of accepting cash to promote cryptocurrency and NFT scams to his social media followers without performing due diligence.[53] Findeisen's team paid Danis $1,000 to promote a fake NFT project on his Twitter account, which actually contained a link to a website listing 20 cryptocurrency and NFT projects that Danis endorsed and Findeisen claims are scams. According to Insider, Danis is yet to issue a response to the allegations.[54]
Nina Agdal case
During the build up to his boxing match with Logan Paul on October 14, 2023, Danis continuously shared images of Paul's fiancée Nina Agdal on social media. Agdal filed a lawsuit and on September 8, Agdal was granted a temporary restraining order.[55] In 2024, Danis’ legal representation filed a motion to withdraw.[56]
Personal life
In August 2023, Danis announced the birth of his first child, a son, but did not share his name or the identity of his son's mother.[57]
On September 1, in the buildup to his bout against Logan Paul, Danis shared the first picture of himself holding his infant son.[58] Despite becoming a father, Danis is still known to the public to be single.[57]
↑ Harper, Matt. "Excellence on mat, in class pins down honor for Danis", Daily Record, January 26, 2011. Accessed November 29, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "Over the last three years, Dillon Danis of Parsippany has honed his skills as a wrestler and begun to master the art of jujitsu while also excelling in the classroom. His efforts of late were enough to earn him the Student of the Month Award at Parsippany Hills High School. Danis, 17, joined the wrestling team his freshman year at the urging of history teacher and head wrestling coach Jason Lodato."
↑ Havsy, Jane. "Parsippany Hills grad earns victory in pro jiu-jitsu debut", Daily Record, May 9, 2015. Accessed November 29, 2022. "Danis is very accustomed to being misunderstood. He started training in jiu-jitsu when he was just 15 years old, a teenager who 'couldn't do one pushup' grappling with grown men. He got into wrestling at Parsippany Hills at about the same time, after head coach Jason Lodato recruited him out of a freshman history class."
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