Dillon Danis talks friendship with ‘big brother’ Conor McGregor

Shortly after Khabib Nurmagomedov defeated Conor McGregor at UFC 229, he leapt over the side of the Octagon and attacked McGregor’s training partner Dillon Danis.

Danis and Nurmagomedov engaged in a momentary skirmish before being separated by security.

Despite the brevity of this brawl, Danis said he had a lot of fun while it lasted.

“I hit him a couple of times. It was really fun, I won’t lie,” Danis told the New York Post recently. “If it happened at a club, [I’d] be going to jail.”

Dillon Danis was at UFC 229 to support his friend Conor McGregor. The pair have been working together since 2016, and have developed a close bond in that time. In fact, Danis told the New York Post, he looks at McGregor as a big brother.

“He’s a big brother to me. It’s like getting to watch Muhammad Ali every day,” Danis says of McGregor. “He teaches me that the things you say . . . are important.”

In the same interview, Dillon Danis talked about his growing notoriety in the sport of MMA, and the money he earns from his sponsorships in the Brazilian jiu jitsu world.

“It’s kind of crazy,” he said of his growing fame. “Being young and getting this popularity, free things and girls everywhere.

“You could be 40-0, and no one will know your name,” he added. “[I’m] 1-0, and everyone knows my name.”

“I get a lot of money for just one [sponsored Instagram] post, more than most people would make in six months. I am very smart and plugged into the game.”

Dillon Danis is set to return to the cage at Bellator at Bellator 222, where he’ll take on Max Humphrey in his second MMA bout.

“[He’s] just someone who has to get taken out so I can achieve my dreams,” he said of his foe. “He’s just a sacrificial lamb for me.”

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 5/28/2019.