Dillon Danis is getting a helping hand from one of Brazil’s most decorated heavy hitters, Alex Pereira.
The former UFC middleweight world champion joined Ariel Helwani on Wednesday’s edition of The MMA Hour to discuss his recently announced light heavyweight title tilt with Jiri Prochazka at UFC 295 in November. During their conversation, ‘Poatan’ was asked about his recent training session with BJJ specialist Dillon Danis.
Danis, who has not competed in combat sports for four years, will step into the boxing ring on October 14 for a highly anticipated grudge match with social media star Logan Paul.
Known primarily as a jiu-jitsu guy, Danis will need all the help he can get when it comes to developing his striking skills. That’s where Alex Pereira comes in. As a three-time GLORY Kickboxing world champion and an owner of knockout victories against both Israel Adesanya and Sean Strickland, there are few better men to seek out for guidance than Pereira when it comes to honing one’s standup skills.
Alex Pereira Hopes to Continue Training with Dillon Danis
Speaking about his time working with Danis in the gym, ‘Poatan’ said:
“Yeah he was just in here today in my gym,” Alex Pereira said through a translator. “It was great training, he said he enjoyed rounds with a specific type of sparring, it was a very nice train… No, it was the second time [we trained], the first time we trained was a few months ago. But, Alex was still recovering from some fights, still a bit injured, so they just did a few positions on the ground. Some boxing.”
He continued, “Today, it was really boxing… Well, Alex is going to travel now for a few days. Maybe [we’ll train] one more time before the fight because he really enjoyed the training. He was able to move a lot. Dillon enjoyed it too. Dillon was able to pick up a lot of stuff today, so it was very good actually.”
Before shocking the world with a unanimous decision victory over Israel Adesanya to capture the middleweight title at UFC 293, Sean Strickland was spotted training with Alex Pereira. Could that bode well for Dillon Danis when he steps into the ring with Logan Paul as part of Misfits Boxings’ ‘The PRIME Card’ next month?
Watch the full interview below:
Transcription by BJPenn.com