Dalton Rosta now 3-0, but wants to be fighting more often.
Dalton Rosta dominated his way to a third professional stoppage victory at Bellator 243. “Hercules” won via doctor stoppage, as we never saw a second round due to a cut on opponent Mark Gardener. Post-fight, Rosta took little time to call out his next opponent, Dillon Danis. At least, he’s hoping that’s his next bout.
“I’ve talked to my manager about it, I want that fight,” Rosta told Cageside Press this week. “A lot of people don’t like the guy, he calls out Youtube stars, UFC champions, anybody not in his promotion,” Rosta continued. “Danis does it for attention, that’s obvious. Stop with the games, you have world class jiu-jitsu, put that to the test up against me and see how it works out.”
Rosta has the same management team as Danis, Paradigm Management. So Rosta is very confident that although Danis has been quiet on the call out thus far, that it will definitely be brought to his attention. Rosta wants to show the world who Dillon Danis is.
“It’ll get to his coach’s desk, I can promise you that,” Rosta told Cageside Press. “I’ll continue to push for it. He either will say yes or no, but if he says no I’ll expose that, it’ll be known. I really just want to expose him for who he is, I wanna be the guy that gets people like Danis out of this sport.”
Dillon Danis is currently 2-0 and while listed as a welterweight, he has yet to fight at the 170lb limit. As Rosta points out, he has only fought at catchweight in his two stoppage wins. Danis is best known for his friendship with UFC megastar Conor McGregor. Danis is a training partner, and even jiu-jitsu coach of McGregor at SBG Ireland.
“He does have world class jiu-jitsu, but he’d have absolutely nowhere near the following he has without McGregor,” Rosta stated. “He tries to ride the same wave that worked for McGregor, same personality, and it just doesn’t work for him. He looks uncomfortable when he speaks, he isn’t as witty as Conor, put pressure on him and he doesn’t know what to say,” Rosta continued. “He isn’t calm in sh*t talking like Conor, he can’t get stuff of the top of his head, so he just looks stupid riding Conor’s coattails. I’d love to put an end to it.”
While it is clear Rosta is looking to share the cage with Danis, who has over one million followers on Twitter, Rosta isn’t holding his breath. Danis hasn’t competed since Bellator 222 last June.
“He isn’t worth the wait,” Rosta told Cageside Press. “I want to fight again in September or at the latest October. I have a career, I won’t let him slow my career down, if he wants to slow his down that’s his decision.”
When asked if at 24 this is exactly where Dalton Rosta thought he’d be, it was both a yes and a no. Rosta has only competed with Bellator professionally, and loves the company. Although Rosta has made it clear that he would love to fight more often, and discusses what could be the case when his contract with Bellator is up.
“Honestly when Bellator called and signed me not only to my debut but a five fight deal, I got real emotional,” Rosta admits. “I knew eventually I’d get signed, I didn’t expect it to happen so soon while I was still an amateur. To be honest I expected to be farther along in Bellator at this point,” Rosta told Cageside Press. “I was expecting them to fight me more often, they have given me long layoffs. I’ve been asking for fights immediately after each of my fights.”
The contract signed by Rosta was a 20 month, 5 fight deal. That essentially means his contract is up with whatever comes first, competing in five fights for the promotion or 20 months with the promotion. Rosta is unsure how the COVID-19 pandemic plays into the contract with the layoff that occurred.
“I’m not sure how it works, it was a 20 month, five fight deal, but I think with COVID that will be changed or extended,” Rosta explained. “If I get five fights, I’ll be 5-0 with 5 knockouts. Wherever I go I want to be paid and treated right, fight me more often. Bellator has the capability to do that, Bellator is a great promotion, I’d love to stay but we will talk about it in negotiations. There are other options out there, if they want me they will make it known.”
