Former MMA star Dillon Danis has opened up about his mental health struggles in a social media post today.
The two-time Bellator fighter hasn’t competed in the cage or grappling since 2019, and hasn’t been able to book another Misfits Boxing fight since facing Logan Paul over a year ago. He has stayed training, but admits that his mental health has taken a toll.
Danis made a massive purse believed to be in the seven figures for his pay-per-view bout with Paul on The Prime Card. But he has been locked in a costly legal battle with the YouTuber’s fiancee Nina Agdal for his role in promotional tactics that involved taking aim at her on social media.
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Dillon Danis opens up about mental health struggles following Logan Paul fight
This afternoon, Dillon Danis took to his secondary Instagram account ‘TheMadSamurai’ to engage in a fan Q&A with those who follow him on the lesser-known profile. He was brief with his answers, but did allow some insight into what has been going on in his life.
The New Yorker is a close friend and training partner of Conor McGregor, and has learned the habit of tweeting and deleting explosive messages from the Irishman. But he kept his answers to the fan Q&A live for as long as Instagram stories last, leading to some intriguing information.
His prompt for fan questions asked them “Who should I fight next?” And when one replied: “Anyone brother, just want to see you back in the cage,” Danis answered back by saying: “Me too, man. Me too.”
However, things took a more serious turn when another joked that he should fight ‘his depression’. Danis replied with a picture of himself looking forlorn, telling the fan it is ‘my toughest battle.”
Dillon Danis was due to face Mike Perry before Jake Paul fight was booked
Danis has been pushing for a return to the cage for a while, but needs a big name opponent in order to entice him back. There was a point at the height of his grappling career where he was considered one of the best jiu-jitsu practitioners in the world, which earned him a spot on McGregor’s team.
However, he has been out of competition for so long that he has become an afterthought in both the grappling and MMA worlds. He was due to return to the cage under the banner of Misfits MMA; an offshoot of Misfits Boxing, this summer, but it fell through on late notice.
He would have faced former UFC star and BKFC ‘King of Violence’ champion Mike Perry in August in Miami. Unfortunately Perry ended up being drafted in as a late-notice replacement for Jake Paul in July, losing by knockout.
Dillon Danis wants MMA fight with Jake Paul after Mike Tyson bout
Now, Danis wants a fight of his own with Jake Paul, once he is done fighting with Mike Tyson on November 15 in Texas. The MMA star has already faced Jake’s brother Logan in the boxing ring, and the pair had verbally agreed to rematch in the cage.
But he believes that a fight with Jake could end up making more sense, particularly given that the YouTuber-turned-boxer has signed up to compete in the PFL. As of right now, the younger Paul has no opponent, and Danis reckons he could slot right in.
After watching Francis Ngannou’s victory over Renan Ferreira on Saturday night, Danis took to X and said: “If PFL wants to stay in business, their only option is me vs Jake Paul in MMA since his brother isn’t a man of his word and p***ied out of our deal.”
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