Dillon Danis loves being the center of attention, but his constant battles outside the cage could be his biggest obstacle to finally competing in the UFC.
Danis, a multi-time grappling champion, recently boxed Logan Paul and was recently released from Bellator, for whom he fought in MMA twice. He recently said he’s only interested in returning to MMA if it’s in the UFC.
Danis has made a very public push to get the UFC’s attention, but UFC CEO Dana White said his antics and online trolling – which often end in physical altercations and near-brawls in public – go against everything White wants in his promotion.
“I have no beef with the kid at all, I’ve probably said two words to him in my whole life — but every time he’s around, s**** going down,” White said about Danis on The Full Send podcast. “We can’t have that stuff going on here.”
While Danis never competed in the UFC, he was involved in one of the uglier MMA incidents in recent history when former lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov brawled with him after defeating Conor McGregor at UFC 229.
Ahead of his recent boxing match in England, Danis threw a microphone at opponent Logan Paul during a heated faceoff, opening a cut on Paul’s face that threatened to cancel the fight.
Danis has also engaged in a number of physical altercations outside various events, including an incident that took place outside UFC 295 in New York City.
“I didn’t know that [Dillon Danis at UFC 295] until after, when he was out front fighting with everybody,” White said. “I saw it on Instagram.”
As much as Danis’ behavior gets attention, White said the constant threat of violence and mayhem any time he’s around just doesn’t belong in the UFC. In fact, White fired back at the suggestion that the UFC encourages those kinds of altercations to drum up interest in a fight.
“A lot of people will see when guys get into it on stage or something starts to happen they’re like, ‘Oh they must love this!’ No, we don’t love it,” White said. “We don’t need that s*** to sell fights. The athletic commission goes crazy, and people start getting fined and they come after us.
“It’s our job to keep that s*** under control. That’s why where you see these other events with guys and everything breaks out like that, it’s a f****** total unprofessional clown show.”
