Dillon Danis has had more fights in crowds at UFC events than he has had matches in the MMA promotion’s octagon.
After his latest wild brawl on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden, Danis has now been banned from attending the promotion’s events for life, according to UFC president Dana White.
“You will never see Dillon Danis at a UFC fight ever again,” White told reporters during his post-UFC 322 press conference.
Danis was involved in a wild melee with teammates of Islam Makhachev that took more than a dozen security personnel to break up.
The brawl occurred between the final fight of the preliminary card and the start of the main card on pay-per-view at the downtown Manhattan arena.
According to reports, Danis and five other people with him attempted to gain access to an area where several UFC fighters were seated for the event.
Danis was seen exchanging words with Makhachev’s group before things kicked off.
White actually blamed himself for the incident, saying that he knew something could go down involving the controversial Danis.
“I blame myself for that (brawl), actually,” White said after the event. “They came back and told me right before I walked out for the main card that Dillon Danis was here and he was moving around, sitting in fighters’ seats and not sitting in his own seat that he had. He had a ticket.
“And they said, ‘Do you want us to throw him out of here?’ and I said, ‘He has a ticket?’ and they said, ‘Yeah.’ They told me that (former UFC fighter Jorge) Masvidal said he’s going to f*** him up on sight. And I said, ‘Where is Masvidal sitting?’ and they said, ‘Well, he’s six or seven rows away from Masvidal.’
“So I said ‘If the guy has a ticket, let him sit in his seat. Let him do what he’s doing, but keep an eye on him.’”
WARNING: Language
Danis previously had been involved in beef from a 2018 fight between Makhachev’s training partner, Khabib Nurmagomedov, and Conor McGregor, who had been training with Danis at the time.
Danis was attacked by Nurmagomedov after the Dagestani fighter after having defeated McGregor via submission, kicking off a brawl in the cage and in the stands.
White said that it hadn’t occurred to him that Danis and Makhachev’s crews could go at it.
“It never even crossed my mind, as stupid as that could be, that the entire Muslim Brotherhood was here tonight in the first five rows for Islam (Makhachev). As soon as it broke out I was over to the side and I said, ‘F*** I know exactly what that is.’”
A member of Makhachev’s group, Magomed ‘Chanco’ Zaynukov shared why he attacked Danis in a video posted on social media, saying that the American was talking trash.
“He should’ve got more. In terms of what he’s done, it’s not much. That type of thing can’t be forgiven,” he said while speaking to Ushatayka.
“You have to be responsible for that. That’s our way of life. If you said something, you’ve got to be responsible for your words,” he added.
Makhachev won the main event over Jack Della Maddalena via unanimous decision to become the UFC Welterweight champion.
White also revealed that UFC had the option to press charges against Danis but declined.
“They call me from downstairs and they said, ‘We got him down here do you want to press charges and have him arrested?” And I said, ‘No, we don’t want to press charges. This is the fight business, man. You know how I feel about this s***. I could have prevented this tonight,” White said.
Danis has three professional MMA fights under belt, all wins.
His most recent bout was a 15-second submission win over Warren Spencer in August at Misfits 22. Danis is scheduled to fight again for the promotion in December against Anthony Taylor.