Dillon Danis

Dillon Danis - Quick Facts

Profile Overview of Dillon Danis

Dillon Danis (born August 22, 1993) is an American mixed martial artist. He currently competes in Misfits as part of their MMA division, where he is the current Misfits MMA Light Heavyweight (175lbs) Champion. Danis is also signed to the Cruiserweight division of Real American Freestyle (RAF).

This profile of Dillon Danis covers Background, Career and Rise to Fame, Bellator MMA (2018–2019), Global Fight League (2025) and Misfits MMA (2025–present).

Trained in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Danis previously competed in the Pan Jiu-Jitsu No-Gi Championship. He then transitioned to MMA as a Welterweight, debuting at Bellator 198 against Kyle Walker and winning via a toe hold in the first round. Danis 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 later 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. In boxing, he was scheduled to face British 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.

Background of Dillon Danis

Born to a 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, although 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 age 17, Danis started making trips to Marcelo Garcia's academy in New York and at age 19, he eventually moved to New York 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.

Career and Rise to Fame of Dillon Danis

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.

Bellator MMA (2018–2019)

In 2018, Danis was scheduled to make his own 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, but Danis received an injury and was forced to withdraw.

Danis confirmed in 2023 that he had two fights left on his Bellator contract and intended 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 later announced his retirement from combat sports on November 15, 2023.

Global Fight League (2025)

On January 24, 2025 it was announced that Danis had signed with Global Fight League as part of their New York team under the welterweight division managed by Ray Longo. Originally, Danis was scheduled to face former interim UFC lightweight champion Tony Ferguson as the headliner for GFL 2 on May 25, but on April 9 both GFL 1 and GFL 2 were postponed indefinitely.

Misfits MMA (2025–present)

On July 20, 2025 Misfits Boxing announced that Danis and influencer Warren Spencer would partake in an MMA match on the Misfits 22 – Ring of Thrones undercard, launching their MMA division. The event took place on August 30 at Manchester Arena in Manchester, England for the inaugural MF MMA light heavyweight title (175 Ibs limit). Danis won the bout by mounted guillotine-choke submission fifteen seconds into the first round and was crowned the inhouse champion. After the bout, Danis faced off with strongman Eddie Hall.

On November 3, Misfits co-president Mams Taylor announced that Danis would make his first title defense on the Misfits Mania – The Fight Before Christmas undercard, set to take place on December 20 at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium in Dubai, UAE. One week later, Danis' opponent was confirmed to be Anthony Taylor. But on December 5 following an altercation involving Islam Makhachev's team at UFC 322, Danis was removed from the card after not being medically cleared to compete.

Other promotions (2026)

Danis is scheduled to face Mike Perry on August 29, 2026 at DuelBit's inaugural combat sports event Duel Arena 1.

Career and Rise to Fame

On May 9, 2015, Danis fought UFC veteran Joe Lauzon at Metamoris 6. Danis won via a D'arce choke.

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 overall holds a grappling record of 18 wins and 16 losses, and is a seven time tournament winner. Eleven of his eighteen wins were by submission, while only one out of his 16 losses was by being submitted.

Danis was set to face UFC lightweight contender Arman Tsarukyan at Hype FC in May 2026, but the bout was cancelled for undisclosed reasons.

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 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. But Danis withdrew on January 4 with Mams Taylor, promoter and matchmaker for Misfits Boxing, stating the reason being that he is "underprepared, he has no coach, he might be struggling with weight." Danis was replaced by Brazilian YouTuber FaZe Temperrr.

Danis vs Paul

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.

Source: adapted from Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dillon_Danis), text available under CC BY-SA 4.0.