Dillon Danis

Dillon Danis (born August 22, 1993) is an American retired submission grappler and mixed martial artist.

Danis competed in the Welterweight division of Bellator MMA.

He also competed in the Pan Jiu-Jitsu No-Gi Championship.

He made his mixed martial arts 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 responded by throwing punches at Nurmagomedov before an all-out brawl ensued.

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.

He was scheduled to face English YouTuber KSI at MF & DAZN: X Series 004 but withdrew due to lack of preparation and coaching.

In his debut professional boxing match, he was defeated by American YouTuber Logan Paul via disqualification.

Born to a Spanish-Honduran mother and Armenian father, raised in Parsippany–Troy Hills, New Jersey, Danis attended Parsippany Hills High School and started wrestling there as a freshman, despite the fact that he "couldn't do one pushup".

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.

On May 9, 2015, Danis fought UFC veteran Joe Lauzon at Metamoris 6.

Danis won via a D'arce choke.

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.

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.

On October 29, 2016, Danis fought at Polaris Pro Grappling 4 against Jackson Sousa.

Danis won via an inside heel hook.

He also participated in Polaris 5 at a catchweight (-78 kg) where he lost a judges decision to Garry Tonon.

Danis also commented that he will be participating in an upcoming ADCC event on Ariel Helwani's podcast.

On November 18, 2022, Danis made an appearance at the press conference for MF & DAZN: X Series 003 where he confronted British YouTuber KSI.

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.

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."

Danis was replaced by Brazilian YouTuber FaZe Temperrr.

On August 8, 2023, it was announced that Danis would face American YouTuber Logan Paul as the second main event for X Series 10 – The Prime Card alongside KSI vs Tommy Fury on October 14 at Manchester Arena in Manchester, England.

During the bout, Danis was disqualified in the sixth round after attempting a takedown and an illegal choke.

In 2018, Danis was scheduled to make his MMA debut at Bellator 198 against Kyle Walker.

He won via a toe hold in the first round of the fight.

Danis’ next fight was against Max Humphreys in 2019 at Bellator 222 at a catchweight of 175 lbs.

Danis won the fight via armbar in the first round.

Danis was originally scheduled to fight again in 2020, against Kegan Gennrich at Bellator 238.

Previous to the scheduled bout, however, Danis received an injury and was forced to withdraw.

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.

On October 21, 2023, it was reported by Ariel Helwani that Danis had been released from his Bellator contract.

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.

A month after his exit from Bellator, Danis subsequently announced his retirement from combat sports on November 15, 2023.