It’s UFC or bust for BJJ specialist Dillon Danis.
Danis kickstarted his mixed martial arts career with back-to-back first-round submissions under the Bellator banner in 2019. Things appeared to be headed in the right direction, and then suddenly his momentum came to a crashing halt. Danis faded into obscurity and became little more than a joke in the MMA community.
Fast forward four years later, Danis is one of the biggest names in combat sports following his grudge match with social media sensation Logan Paul. Say what you will about Danis’ actual performance in the boxing ring, which left a lot to be desired, but the New Jersey native proved that he could sell a fight.
Danis believes that alone should be enough to score a contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Appearing on Friday’s live edition of The MMA Hour from New York City, Danis discussed his potential paths to the Octagon, all of which he is open to, except for one. Asked if he’s willing to earn a spot on the roster by going through Dana White’s Contender Series, like current UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley did, Danis said he’d rather hang up his gloves and gi for good.
“I’d rather retire, bro,” Danis said without hesitation. “I’m not Sean O’Malley, I’m bigger than him. I have the most followers than any welterweight in all of MMA.”
Dillon Danis says he'll retire if he doesn't get signed by the UFC.#TheMMAHour pic.twitter.com/xMKYx9Unna
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) November 10, 2023
Though he ruled out an appearance on DWCS, Dillon Danis is willing to take another route. Specifically, the promotion’s long-running reality series, The Ultimate Fighter.
However, Danis’ “dream scenario” would be a spot at UFC 300 against the winner of Paddy Pimblett and Tony Ferguson who are scheduled to scrap on December 16.
“One-hundred percent, let’s do it — but I really don’t care,” Danis said. “Any of them. I’m going to tell Dana White that. I don’t care who it is. Just give me anybody, and if they don’t do it, I can just retire and chill.
“[I’ll fight Paddy, and if he loses] I’ll fight Tony Ferguson. Who wouldn’t want to see that? I think that would be such an easy fight though, I’d kind of feel bad beating a guy that’s on [such a long] losing streak. He’d be on a one-fight winning streak then, but I think Paddy is so bad. He’s terrible. Just go watch him, he almost lost to Jared Gordon [and] Jared Gordon’s terrible. He did lose to Jared Gordon. Jared’s not good.”
Dillon Danis is Willing to Take on Anyone the UFC Puts In Front of Him
With four million followers on Instagram and another one million on X (formerly Twitter), Danis could be an incredibly valuable asset to the UFC when it comes to marketing and exposure.
And with his willingness to fight practically anyone, including Octagon favorite Kevin Holland, signing Danis has all of the signs of being a winning move for the promotion.
“Everybody wants to see me in the UFC,” Danis said. “People think that I just did a boxing match, that my jiu-jitsu isn’t on a different level. I’ll fight Islam [Makhachev] first fight. I’ll fight any of them first fight, I swear. At the end of the day, if I lose, I lose.
“I could do 155 or 170. [Holland] an easy fight. Give me a warmup. This is too easy. He has no takedown defense and I think I’d submit him in the first round.”
Watch the full interview below:
