Alex Pereira is going to be incredibly difficult for Magomed Ankalaev to keep down, according to the champion’s controversial sparring partner.
Dillon Danis, the infamous former Bellator star and Conor McGregor teammate, has been a part of camp for Pereira while he prepares for two fights of his own. He first faces Misfits Boxing boss and YouTube star KSI in a March 29 boxing match, before taking on UFC legend Tony Ferguson in the GFL this May.
Danis hasn’t competed inside the cage since his 2019 sophomore outing with Bellator. But he has maintained a rigorous training schedule and at one point was widely understood to be one of the best Jiu Jitsu practitioners in the world.
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Alex Pereira’s secret weapon for Magomed Ankalaev fight revealed by Dillon Danis
One infamous bit of video of Alex Pereira training with Dillon Danis a few years ago showed the grappler repeatedly getting him to the ground with takedowns. Against a Dagestani wrestling expert like Magomed Ankalaev, it is likely to be even tougher to defend being brought down.
But Danis says that Pereira’s uncanny strength will keep him from being held on the ground too long, even if he is taken down. Speaking exclusively with Bloody Elbow, he explained: “Alex is a beast, he’s one of the strongest people I’ve ever felt in my whole life.
“So I’m excited to see him f—ing knock out Ankalaev. I hate Dagestanis, not all of them but a lot if I’m honest. So Alex has shown me a lot and he’s just a f—ing animal who I’m happy to train with.
“I say he wins by knockout in the third or second round. He’ll keep trying to take him down and he won’t be able to because Alex is actually very very hard to take down. Even if you take him down, good luck trying to hold him! I think he gasses and I think Alex finishes him by TKO.”
Dillon Danis and Alex Pereira have been training together for a long time
The first footage of Alex Pereira training with Dillon Danis emerged back in 2023 when the New Yorker was preparing to fight Logan Paul. At the time, Pereira was moving up to light-heavyweight, where he has now become one of the greatest of all time on a legendary run.
And it appears that the relationship has stayed strong over the years, as they are still regularly seen together training. “I think it’s a good fight with two big names,” Pereira told Bloody Elbow of Danis’ upcoming bout in his role as a Stake Ambassdor during an exclusive chat last week.
“I trained with him today, and obviously, he’s a different weight, a different size than I am, and a different style as well. But he was doing very well, He is training with us, and l’Il be rooting for him – I couldn’t say anything different. But I’ll be watching the fight and hope he wins.”