Dillon Danis explains how the UFC 229 brawl started

UFC 229 was poised to be the biggest pay-per-view of the year as Conor McGregor was set to challenge Khabib Nurmagomedov for the lightweight belt. Making the fight even more anticipated was the lead up, which saw McGregor throw a dolly at a bus, and pelt Nurmagomedov with seemingly endless trash talk.

Unfortunately, after Nurmagomedov submitted McGregor, he jumped out of the Octagon and attacked Dillon Danis. Nobody knew exactly why, although Nurmagomedov’s team said it was because Danis was making racist comments. However, Danis has vehemently denied those claims.

Speaking on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show, Danis revealed his side of the story.

“This started I think in the third or second round. I was behind the cage and he (Khabib) started to come, he was pointing and saying stuff to me,” Danis said. “I was thinking in my head this guy is crazy. I was just trying to focus on my friend and he kept saying stuff and cursing. Like this dude is insane. Even in between rounds, he was eyeing and mouthing stuff. It started during the fight so I could kind of sense he was in a different state of mind.

“After the fight, even with Nate Diaz, any of them, it is usually respect. I would never ever start a fight with someone after a fight. I’m a martial artist from the beginning, since I was a kid,” he continued. “That is just not who I am. I’m not going to be the kind of guy after a fight to be like ‘F you.’ You know? That is just not me.

“After the fight was over I was obviously in shock. Conor is one of my closest friends, training partners, I care about him a lot. I got up and I’m just sitting there because I just saw my friend lose,” Danis continued. “I felt someone hitting me on the back really hard so I’m thinking it was the commission trying to go in the cage. I look back and it was him (Rizvan Magomedov). So I’m like what’s up. Then I turn around and see Khabib throw the mouthpiece or something and there was spit on me because when he threw the mouthpiece, there was spit everywhere. So I was like ‘alright come here.’ So he ended up jumping the cage and whatever happened happened. It was crazy, it just kind of happened.”

What do you make of Dillon Danis’ side of the story?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 3/11/2019.