After a controversy-riddled build up to match their controversy-laden careers, Logan Paul and Dillon Danis finally faced off on Saturday in the co-main event of Misfits Boxing: The PRIME Card, in a bout that Logan Paul won with ease.
Danis, a former grappling phenom turned professional internet troll, competed professionally for the first time since 2019, and in boxing for the first time at all, against one of the biggest internet celebrities ever. Logan Paul has two boxing fights under his belt, losing to KSI (the pair also faced off as amateurs), who headlined this Misfits card, in 2019. His other fight was an exhibition bout against Floyd Mayweather in 2021 which was technically ruled a draw, though that was only because it went the distance and there was no judging for the match. Despite having an actual combat sports background, Danis was a huge underdog given his grappling base, inactivity, and the apparent athleticism disparity.
With a visible cut on his face from being hit by Danis with a microphone on Friday, Paul came out looking like the much larger fighter. Danis walked towards him with a high guard raised and did not punch until they were in the clinch. Logan had trouble breaking through that high guard but did poke at the body with his jab and straight right. Nothing major happened in the first round, though Danis got cautioned for excessive clinch punching after being told to break, a byproduct of his clear gameplay to wear out Paul.
The second round saw Logan start by just using Danis like a punching bag as Dillon did not throw back any strikes of his own. Some got deflected but some got through. Logan calmed down a bit after that and paced himself for the rest of the round until he had Danis hurt with 30 seconds left. Paul landed a left hand first and then a right that had Danis on wobbly legs. Logan swarmed him but was unable to put Danis down and he slowed his pace right before the bell so he did not get tired.
With Logan likely up two rounds to none, the third round was big. However, Danis once again did not put up much of a fight. Logan was able to throw whatever he wanted as Danis barely let his hands go ever, just walked around with his guard up. Logan landed some good body shots late and clearly won the round again, though Danis finally landed a right in the closing seconds.
Danis threw hands finally at the start of a round in round four and landed a right hand. He was more open than in previous rounds after that, but still was largely on the defensive. Logan’s pace slowed and he danced around the ring more as he began to tire, but he did end the round with a flurry. Paul likely won the round, but it was closer than the others. To that point in the fight Logan had landed eighty-two punches to only nine for Dillon Danis.
The penultimate round saw Logan walk down Danis from the start and unload on him with big clubbing blows when he cornered him, only stopping when Danis fired back to get out of the corner. Ariel Helwani, on commentary for the fight, speculated that Danis only wants to survive to a decision to have a moral victory for his online persona. Logan comfortably saw out the round with smart movement and periodic attacks as Danis did not throw at all.
Logan wailed on Danis at the start of the sixth and final round, his blows got through the guard only partially. Still, Dillon refused to fight back, refusing to allow chances for him to get knocked out and become a meme online, as the commentary pointed out. Danis tried to have a viral moment when he shot for a takedown on Logan Paul, but he could not even take him down. The referee took a point away and Logan swarmed Danis when the fight resumed. He rained down blows but Danis still would not go away and survived to the final horn.
After the fight ended, Danis refused to stop and began to throw punches at security that entered the ring, starting a huge brawl which took ages to separate. When order was finally restored it was announced that Logan had not won a decision, but rather received the nod by disqualification for Danis’ antics. In his post-fight interview, Paul called out Conor McGregor, and added he had forgiven Danis for his pre-fight antics ahead of the fight, though he was highly critical of the BJJ star’s performance in the ring.
Official Result: Logan Paul def. Dillon Danis by Disqualification, Round 6
