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A few days ago, a video surfaced online of a boy getting pummeled inside a bathroom by a couple of his classmates who can only be classified as cowards and bullies. The video (which you can see here) went viral and caught the attention of many, including current Bellator MMA combatant and jiu-jitsu world champion, Dillon Danis.
Soon thereafter, Danis reached out to get in touch with the young man in order to offer him mixed marital arts (MMA) training. A few days later, the young man eventually took Danis up on his offer, showing up at a gym in Baltimore owned by one of Dillon’s acquaintances.
Danis took to social media to express his elation.
I am so proud of this young man for taking me up on my offer and getting into the dojo. Showing up is half the battle and that applies to everything in this life. We’re all in this together, let’s go champ! pic.twitter.com/mRTpMFlW1n
— Dillon Danis (@dillondanis) October 16, 2019
As is the norm in today’s society, people around were more interested in filming the beatdown “For The Gram” instead of lending a helping hand. Danis, though, decided to leap into action and arranged for him to begin training as soon as possible.
“He’s training at a gym in Baltimore owned by my friend and world champion Rick Slomba,” Danis told MMAmania.
“It’s important to me because being bullied is a terrible feeling and the discipline and confidence that comes from martial arts is compared to nothing else. So…jiu jitsu changed my life and I owe it everything, so I want others to have the same opportunity that I was given.”
Prior to this incident, another video surfaced showing another boy getting beat up by a group of kids inside a locker room. Dillon tried to get in touch with the young man and offered to pay jiu-jitsu classes for life, but nothing seemed to come of it that particular case.
As a result of these instances, and the seemingly never-ending cases of bullying in schools, Danis is looking to start a non-profit organization to help victims to train in self-defense.