As the UFC Fight Night Shanghai comes to an end, Dana White and his team once again find themselves in the crosshairs. The reason is anything but ordinary.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
Banned from attending any UFC event, Dillon Danis can only watch from afar. However, that distance seems to have failed to prevent him from taking shots at the UFC. In the latest development Danis, who is scheduled to face Arman Tsarukyan for the inaugural RAF Middleweight Crossover Championship on October 3, slammed the promotion for overlooking what appeared to be poor sportsmanship from Usman Nurmagomedov.
“Are we going to talk about how Usman tried to storm the cage and attack Yadong after he rendered his cousin unconscious? Again, Dana White letting the Dagestanis do whatever they want. WTF,” Danis’ X post read.
His comments centered on the incident that unfolded in the final fight of the UFC Fight Night. Taking place at Oriental Sports Center in Shanghai, the card featured top bantamweight contenders Umar Nurmagomedov and Song Yadong.
Entering the fight, Umar was a clear favorite to win. However, Yadong delivered a major shock by knocking Umar out nearly two minutes into the second round. Coming off a win over former champion Deiveson Figueiredo that followed a loss to Sean O’Malley, Yadong had every reason to celebrate.
With a home crowd cheering him on, the Chinese fighter celebrated his win by running inside the cage. But as he did so, Yadong came crashing into Umar’s brother and PFL lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov, who seemingly elbowed him.
With cousin Khabib Nurmagomedov joining him, Usman had rushed into the cage to tend to his brother, who looked unconscious.
Beyond the apparent elbow to Yadong, which appeared to be unsportsmanlike conduct, the team’s decision to rush inside the Octagon to help Umar also drew criticism because, under Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts, in case a fighter has been knocked out, his corner cannot approach him until a cage-side physician has examined him.
In Dillon Danis’ case, one can understand why his comments would be viewed skeptically given that he has an axe to grind with Team Khabib. The feud between the American BJJ specialist and the Dagestanis goes back years, to when Danis, then a member of Conor McGregor’s team, brawled with them following the UFC 229 main event.
A few years later, Danis was involved in another altercation at UFC 268, when he picked a fight with Ali Abdelaziz.
More recently, the two sides clashed at UFC 322. Taking place on November 15 last year at the Madison Square Garden, Danis became involved in a brawl with Islam Makhachev’s team members, including Abubakar Nurmagomedov and Magomed Zaynukov.
Following the incident, Dana White revealed that no charges would be pressed against Danis and announced that the MMA fighter would not be allowed at any future UFC event anymore.
To put the broader issue into perspective, the notion of the UFC favoring the Dagestani fighter appears to be more perception than established fact. The so-called “Dagestani privilege” is largely discussed in fan-based online communities, where some point to fast-tracked title shots or high-profile matchmaking as evidence.
In contrast, it has often been argued that Dagestani fighters are successful not because the UFC is unfairly favoring them, but because they come from a very strong wrestling system and have consistently found success with their dominant fighting style. As a result, the UFC has little choice but to give them opportunities.
That said, conduct such as that displayed by Usman Nurmagomedov can only add fuel to the argument, giving those who already believe in “Dagestani privilege” another reason to question whether the fighters receive preferential treatment.