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What Happened Between Dillon Danis and Gordon Ryan? Are the Two Combat Sports Stars Beefing?

Published 10/11/2023, 3:58 PM EDT

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Dillon Danis is relatively new in his career as a professional fighter in MMA and has only two fights on his pro record. The last time he was seen in action was in Bellator four years ago. His upcoming match against Logan Paul on October 14 in Manchester will see the Jiu-Jitsu black belt transition to boxing. This clash will also mark the culmination of their months-long spat that has turned ugly and controversial on several occasions. During their final faceoff before the fight, Paul had one last surprise for Danis, bringing Danis’ “kryptonite” on stage.

In a surprising move, Logan Paul called the supposed BJJ GOAT Gordon Ryan on stage during the faceoff. The rivalry between Danis and Ryan is all too familiar to combat sports fans. The New Jersey native takes pride in his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu pedigree and background. But his former BJJ opponent and one of the greatest in the sport, Gordon Ryan, does not rate him very highly. The latest episode of their back-and-forth came with Ryan taking shots at Danis on stage.

Gordon Ryan surprises Dillon Danis at Paul-Danis faceoff

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When it was his turn on the microphone, Logan Paul went off on Dillon Danis and announced he was prepared for anything Danis might try. The PRIME co-founder said, “I got Dillon Danis’ Kryptonite in the building. You know I brought the baddest dudes in the world. I got Gordon Ryan to protect me in case he [Danis] tries any Jiu-Jitsu bulls**t.”

Shortly, Ryan took the stage by Paul’s side and took his turn on the mic. When asked why he was at the event, Ryan said, “Really I’m here just to retrieve Dillon because I need someone to clean my cars. And he’s the one who usually does it, and so I came all the way here just to retrieve him. To bring him back home to Texas.”

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Danis did not hold back on his retort either. ‘El Jefe’ said, “That’s his [Paul’s] steroid supplier. That’s who it is. Two juiceheads. Two f***ing juiceheads that don’t know how to real fight. Gordon’s a little bi**h.  That’s why he’s selling out. He’s from Jersey and you’re gonna support the other side. You’re a f***ing dead man when you get back to Jersey…”

This rivalry between Danis and Ryan goes back to their BJJ days. Logan Paul being the marketer that he is merely made the most of it. So when did the beef between Danis and Ryan actually start? And what was the reason for their spat?

Gordon Ryan says Dillon Danis is not “nearly as good” at Jiu-Jitsu

Gordon Ryan and Dillon Danis faced each other in the 2017 edition of the ADCC World Championship. The two had a close match where Ryan won via a decision. He gave Dillon Danis his due credit. But he added that Danis was not as good as people thought!

“If you actually look at the statistics and I’ve been dying to actually say this on a big podcast … Dillon Danis has a record in jiu-jitsu, since black belt, of 18-16. Like he’s not nearly as good at jiu-jitsu as people think he is. Everyone just references the match with me like, yeah, that was about five years ago, I wasn’t good either. But Dillon since black belt is 18-16 so it’s not a great record,” he said on ‘The MMA Hour’. It didn’t end there. After Dillon Danis dropped out of a fight against KSI, Ryan showed no mercy calling out the Bellator fighter earlier this year.

“That was just amazing. Because his manager just came out and said [Danis] wasn’t training and he couldn’t make weight. It’s like dude, at least lie and say he hurt his ribs and can’t compete. Don’t just be like, ‘He’s a lazy s*** bag, maybe he can’t make it,’” Ryan told ‘MMA Fighting’. Ryan has been vocal about Danis not competing in any combat sport for nearly four years and has said he only cares about the publicity he receives on social media. He even pulled Conor McGregor into the conversation!

At the 2014 IBJJF World Championships, Danis was awarded brown belt world champion in both the gi and no-gi events. He also won gold at the UAEJJF Abu Dhabi World Pro Championship that year. Danis hasn’t competed in a jiu-jitsu tournament since 2017. Then why does the Bellator fighter boast he is a “4x Jiu-Jitsu World Champion” on his Instagram bio? Ryan called it “The biggest farce in a bio the world has ever seen.”

It was around 2017 that Danis began training with Conor McGregor as his BJJ coach. Ryan blamed ‘The Notorious’ for Danis’ career falling apart. But is Dillon Danis now finally ready to end his combat sports hiatus and enter his first boxing match against Logan Paul?

Will Dillon Danis defeat Logan Paul to be his best man at his wedding?

The upcoming boxing match between Dillon Danis and Logan Paul will take place on October 14 in Manchester, England. It will serve as the co-main event for the main event of the KSI versus Tommy Fury fight. Danis has been relentlessly trolling Paul by targeting his fiancee, the Danish model Nina Agdal, on social media.

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This has led her to file a lawsuit against Danis. The stakes are high for the fight as the former BJJ world champion has promised to give his fight purse to Paul if the WWE star wins. And if Danis wins, Paul will let him be his best man at his wedding with Agdal.

This will be Danis’ debut boxing match. But both opponents couldn’t wait to get their hands on each other. They started a brawl during their press conference. Boxing fans will have to wait and watch where this rivalry goes!

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What do you think about Ryan’s comments about Danis’ BJJ record? Let us know in the comments section below.

Watch This Story: Did Dillon Danis Pull Out From Logan Paul Fight?

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Written by:

Kanishk Thakur

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Kanishk Thakur is an MMA writer at EssentiallySports. A graduate in political science from Delhi University, his love for writing and MMA made him want to be part of telling the story of the sport. His journalist mother and love for philosophy and research inculcated a staunch rationalism in him, and the need to substantiate every statement he makes with good evidence.
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Edited by:

Abhishek Das