Misfits x DAZN: Who Is Dillon Danis?

The biggest influencer boxing event of the year (and perhaps ever) is upon us! Misfits x DAZN 10 (Known as the “Prime Card” features a stacked event, with KSI and Logan Paul co-main eventing a massive set of matchups live from Manchester, UK. However, arguably the biggest talking point of this whole event has actually been Paul’s opponent, Dillon Danis. Here, we are going to do a deep dive on Dillon Danis’ background, and why you have heard of him even if you don’t know much about him!

Dillon Danis: Origin Story

A New Jersey native, Dillon Danis’ story starts in the Big Apple. After attending Parsippany Hills High School in New Jersey, Danis began training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu at the age of 15 after getting into a fight at school. At 17, Danis sought out the mentorship of Marcelo Garcia (a 4th degree Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu – one of the best coaches in the world), and began making regular trips to New York to train under him. At age 21, Danis was awarded his Black Belt under Gracia, a very impressive and significant achievement. He has also won gold medals at the World Pan Jiu-Jitsu no-gi grappling championship, winning gold in 2016.

Danis started training with Marcelo Garcia (centre) at age 17, being awarded his black belt at 21. He has not worked with Garcia since 2017. (Image Credit: Sportskeeda)

However, in 2017, per BJJ Heroes, Danis and teammate Mansher “Munch” Khera were suspended from Garcia’s academy. Marcelo posted a video announcing that both fighters needed to take “time off”, citing their increasing obsession with social media and lack of focus in the gym.

MMA Career, Conor McGregor and Bellator

In 2016, Dillon Danis was first thrust into the spotlight when he was brought in to Conor McGregor’s training camp for UFC 202, the rematch against Nate Diaz. Danis and McGregor have remained extremely close friends ever since, and continue to train and collaborate together. Following the aftermath of UFC 229 (yes, THAT event), Khabib Nurmagomedov famously took flight to attack Danis, who returned fire in the brawl and struck Khabib before they were both firmly separated. This notoriety has become a common theme of Danis’ career.

Professionally, Danis is 2-0 in Bellator, with both wins coming via (shock) submission. However, he has not competed professionally in MMA since 2018, leading to round criticism of his inactivity during that time. This inactivity, as well as the rise of influencer boxing, led him to this point…

Controversy, Influencer Boxing and Lawsuits

Danis first surfaced on the influencer scene on November 18th, 2022, at the Misfits x DAZN 003 event. Here, he first confronted KSI (Olajide “JJ” Olatunji), and challenged him to a fight, which KSI duly accepted. They were scheduled to headline the 004 event. However, Mams Taylor, KSI’s manager, confirmed that Danis was out, citing a lack of preparation and commitment to the fight. Brazilian YouTuber FaZe Temperrr stepped in on short notice.

In August, it was then announced that Dillon would instead face KSI’s Prime business partner, Logan Paul, co-main eventing this event on Saturday, October 14th. This is where the biggest controversy to date (not including the various back-and-forths about Cryptocurrency scams, etc).

Nina Agdal Restraining Order

We all love a little trash talk, right? Well, Dillon Danis has gone nuclear and turned it up to 11 for this fight.

For the past couple of months, Danis has launched a verbal rocket barrage on Logan Paul’s fianceé, Danish Model Nina Agdal. I won’t go into all of the sordid details, but Danis has been pretty relentless in targeting Agdal in an attempt to get to Logan, referring to her previously as a s***, as well as constantly referring to the number of romantic partners she has previously had.

Danis is being sued by Agdal (centre) for his constant campaign against her. Fiancé Logan Paul (right) has promised to make Danis pay for his smear campaign. (Image Credit: Essentially Sports)

However, Danis took it way too far over the line when he shared an NSFW picture of Agdal from a few years ago. This has led Agdal to file for (and be granted) an injunction and a temporary restraining order against Danis. She is also suing Danis in New Jersey under the “Revenge Porn” statute, and is seeking over $150,000 in damages. Naturally, Logan hasn’t taken this very well at all, and has threatened to make Danis pay dearly for targeting Agdal in an attempt to get to him.

Danis, on the other hand, has appeared remarkably relaxed about the whole situation, and has promised to beat both Logan and the New Jersey lawsuit. Whether he does or not remains to be seen.

So, there you have it! Hopefully this article has given you a little more insight into who Dillon Danis is, as well as why you probably see his name everywhere you go. Make sure to check out Misfits x DAZN on Saturday night!