Dillon Danis News

Tom Taylor - May 2, 2018

Last weekend, Bellator touched down in Chicago, Illinois with the exciting Bellator 198 card. One of the most talked about features of the main card was the MMA debut of Dillon Danis, an accomplished jiu jitsu practitioner who has recently risen to prominence for his role in Conor McGregor‘s camp. Danis would win this fight, which pitted him against 2-4 fighter Kyle Walker, with a slick, first-round toehold.  While Danis looked solid in his MMA debut, many onlookers have been turned off by the way he seems to mimic McGregor’s shtick. You can file former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping into that group.

Tom Taylor - May 1, 2018

Last weekend, in the first bout of the Bellator 198 main card, Brazilian jiu-jitsu star Dillon Danis stepped into the cage for his first mixed martial arts bout. Though he took a few licks early in the fight, Danis ultimately came out on top in impressive fashion, tapping his foe with a toehold in the first frame. In his post-fight interview with cage-side commentator “Big” John McCarthy Danis shot for the stars with a callout of ostensibly retired former Bellator and ONE welterweight champion Ben Askren, who has recently been angling for big-ticket fights with Rory MacDonald and Georges St-Pierre.

Chris Taylor - April 29, 2018

Michael Chandler blasts Dillon Danis following Bellator 198 Submission specialist Dillon Danis picked up a first-round submission victory over Kyle Walker on the main card of last night’s Bellator 198 event in Chicago.

Chris Taylor - April 29, 2018

Dillon Danis calls out Ben Askren following successful Bellator MMA debut, “Funky” responds accordingly Dillon Danis picked up his first career mixed martial arts victory at last night’s Bellator 198 event in Chicago.

Tom Taylor - April 27, 2018

BJJ ace and Conor McGregor training partner Dillon Danis has never been short on confidence. That remains true as he gears up for his professional MMA debut, which will pit him against 2-3 fighter Kyle Walker in a 175-pound catchweight fight at Bellator 198 this weekend. Speaking to MMAMania, Danis explained that to him, Walker is really just a bump in the road — a bump he intends to roll right over.

Tom Taylor - April 25, 2018

This weekend, on the main card of Bellator 198, Conor McGregor training partner and jiu-jitsu specialist Dillon Danis will make his anticipated MMA debut, as he takes on 2-3 Kyle Walker in a 175-pound catchweight bout. Ahead of his MMA debut, Danis is oozing with the kind of confidence we’ve come to expect from him and most others who fly in the same rarified air as McGregor.

Tom Taylor - March 26, 2018

On April 28, at Bellator 198, grappling export Dillon Danis will make his anticipated MMA debut. The Conor McGregor training partner will be welcomed to the world of cage fighting by Kyle Walker. Danis has oozed confidence ever since his signing with Bellator was announced – so much so that some fans are wondering if he’s taking the challenge ahead lightly.

Tom Taylor - March 15, 2018

Earlier this month, we learned that Conor McGregor training partner Dillon Danis – the man who helped the Irishman sharpen his ground game in the lead-up his rematch with Nate Diaz – will make his Bellator debut at 198 on April 28. And now, he’s got an opponent for that debut. Per a Thursday press release from Bellator, Danis will make his MMA debut opposite Kyle Walker, who will be making his Bellator debut. While the expectation was that Danis would debut at welterweight, this fight will be contested at a 175-pound catchweight.

Justin Golightly - October 28, 2017

Multiple weight submission grappling champion Garry Tonon has recently signed on to ONE to make his MMA debut, while the time for Dillon Danis to make his debut is drawing near. The brash young jiu jitsu black belt signed on with Bellator and is currently prepping for the steep transition. He’s not wanting to take it easy in the MMA game though, in fact he already has his eyes set on gold. Dillon Danis recently revealed details about his Bellator debut to the guys over at Submission Radio. “I think I’m gonna make my [Bellator] debut maybe January. I was planning on December before this whole surgery thing happened, but I want to focus a lot more on my hands and stuff like that. But yeah, I think I’m going to go full in now to MMA and maybe still do some jiu jitsu matches or maybe focus a little bit more on jiu jitsu and then do both. I don’t know. I’m trying to figure everything out now honestly. It’s rough, you know? […] I think 170 is going to be good for me. I was talking to [George] Lockhart about it, he was saying 170. But honestly, I feel like I can make 155, but maybe later on in my career. For now, I mean, 170 I think will be good for me. I like to eat, so I like to enjoy some food. At 170 it will be hard but it won’t be too crazy. 155 will be like super hard but I think I can get it done, but I want to start with 170 for sure.”

Justin Golightly - October 27, 2017

Conor McGregor has his pick of anyone he’d like to fight in MMA or in boxing. For awhile, it seemed like a done deal that McGregor would come back to the UFC and fight Nate Diaz a third time, but at lightweight this time. That seemed to change after UFC 216. More and more the answer everyone is picking for him is Tony Ferguson. Dan Hardy wants it, Eddie Bravo wants it, and now even training partner Dillon Danis thinks it’s the new interim UFC lightweight champion who gets the nod. “I would think Tony Ferguson next because he won and Conor [McGregor] is gonna’ defend the belt and stuff like that. And me knowing Conor, Tony Ferguson is talking a lot of shit and I know Conor is gonna want to shut him up. So, I can see that happening. […] I think a lot of people think that Tony is a tough match-up for him, and I think he would wanna prove people wrong there. He already beat Nate, so I could see that, but at the end of the day It’s his choice and whatever he thinks. But for me knowing him, I think he likes to prove people wrong and that could be the Tony fight.”

Russell Ess - September 25, 2017

The prestigious Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC) tournament took place over the weekend at the Espoo Metro Arena in Espoo, Finland. Stars from the grappling and brazilian jiu-jitsu world including Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida and Rubens Charles along with a few names from mixed martial arts competed in the tournament. Gabi Garcia, Chael Sonnen, and Jake Shields competed in the tournament along with Dillon Danis, who is signed with Bellator but has yet to make his pro MMA debut.

Justin Golightly - August 29, 2017

It didn’t take a fortune teller or a “Mystic Mac” to know where Conor McGregor was most likely headed after his fight with Floyd Mayweather: Towards a trilogy fight with Nate Diaz. To be honest, McGregor could have his pick between anyone in three UFC weight classes or a return to boxing against Paul Malignaggi. However, if he keeps his promise and returns to the Octagon at the end of this year, Conor McGregor’s next fight being the younger Diaz brother is highly likely. Nate Diaz knows it too, at least it seems that way with how he’s been talking on social media. Training partner and friend of Conor McGregor, Dillon Danis posted the latest pic of McGregor on his instagram brandishing a fresh black eye at the hands of Mayweather. It didn’t take long for Nate Diaz to log on and type a single, all-encompassing word into the comment section.

Tom Taylor - June 19, 2017

When Conor McGregor steps into the boxing ring with Floyd Mayweather Jr. on August 26, he will make more money than he ever has competing in MMA – much, much more. He will make so much money that many fans expect him to walk away from the sport of MMA for good after the fight. According to McGregor’s training partner Dillon Danis, however, McGregor is likely to return to MMA despite taking a pay cut to do so, as MMA is his true passion.

Tom Taylor - June 15, 2017

Conor McGregor‘s fight with Floyd Mayweather is now official. The 12-round, 154-pound boxing match will go down on August 26 in the T-Mobile Arena in glimmering Las Vegas, Nevada. Now that this massive fight is official, many top MMA fighters are hoping to earn a place on the undercard – and most of them have specific opponents in mind for these prospective undercard bouts. UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic wants boxing champ Anthony Joshua. UFC featherweight Cub Swanson wants Paul Malignaggi. Former UFC flyweight title challenger Wilson Reis wants Mayweather protege Gervonta Davis. Then there’s Jimi Manuwa’s possible boxing match with David Haye, and Anderson Silva’s long discussed showdown with Roy Jones Jr. The list goes on and on.

Russell Ess - June 14, 2017

Dillon Danis has been getting a ton of attention ever since joining Conor McGregor’s training camp crew last year. Danis has taken note of McGregor’s success and has been a hot topic of debate with a lot of what he has been saying in interviews and posting to social media.

Russell Ess - June 6, 2017

Dillon Danis has gotten a lot of attention since teaming up with Conor McGregor for his last two fight camps helping with his jiu-jitsu game. Danis was initially brought in to help McGregor for his UFC 202 rematch against Nate Diaz after he was submitted by the Stockton scrapper in their initial meeting at UFC 196. After McGregor was able to get redemption by winning a majority decision over Diaz at UFC 202, Danis was a part of the training camp for McGregor’s UFC 205 fight against then-lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez. McGregor ran through Alvarez and is now looking to cash in on the biggest fight of his career by stepping into the boxing ring against Floyd Mayweather.

Tom Taylor - May 17, 2017

Rory MacDonald plans to rule @BellatorMMA's welterweights, but what does he think of the top contenders? He fights Paul Daley on Friday! pic.twitter.com/PXC97eZPL2

Tom Taylor - May 15, 2017

Last night, in the main event of Chael Sonnen’s Submission Underground 4, long-time Nate Diaz training partner Jake Shields met Conor McGregor jiu jitsu coach Dillon Danis in the latest chapter of the ongoing Team Diaz vs. Team McGregor rivalry. When neither man failed to lock up a submission, the bout entered an overtime period, at which point Shields won via faster escape time. Unsurprisingly, this outcome did not go over well with Danis, who momentarily disappeared from the cage post-fight, but ultimately returned to address the crowd.