Dillon Danis’ status in Bellator is “to be determined”.
Bellator CEO Scott Coker isn’t sure Dillon Danis is cut out for a career in MMA.
The former BJJ coach and teammate of Conor McGregor has fought just twice since his professional MMA debut in 2018, submitting Kyle Walker and Max Humprehy in back-to-back fights at Bellator 198 and Bellator 222.
Danis was scheduled to return to competition this Saturday in a boxing match with YouTuber KSI, but he withdrew from the matchup for undisclosed reasons.
With Danis not having fought since 2019, his future in combat sports remains uncertain. Bellator head Coker is willing to honor his current contract, but questions Danis’ commitment to the sport, stating his status within the organization is “TBD.”
“We offered him to fight in London on the show coming up, and I guess [his team] accepted [a fight with KSI], and they made a deal and we basically said, ‘OK,’” Coker told Ariel Helwani during a recent appearance on The MMA Hour (h/t Alexander K. Lee). “So when this thing fell apart, I was really surprised.
“He’s reached out to me and said, ‘Hey, I want to fight.’ So we’re going to try and get him in the rotation, but it’s been a long time. It’s been a long time since he fought, so I hope he’s been training and I hope he’s been doing his thing, but at the end of the day it’s really going to be up to him and how bad he wants to fight and does he really want to compete at this level. It’s going to be something that only he can answer.”
“We have a contract with the guy, and we’re going to honor the contract,” Coker added. “But like I said, it’s going to be ‘Do you want to really fight?’ That’s really the question here, to be honest. That’s the question.
“If you want to fight, come back in here, not that you start from ground zero, but you’re going to be in some tough competition. Test yourself and then let’s see what happens.”
As an accomplished Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt with multiple world titles to his name, it would be a shame to see Danis waste his talents outside of MMA. But at just 29 years old and with only two fights under his belt, he still has time to make a comeback and potentially leave a lasting impact on the sport.