New York, NY — Dillon Danis was caught in the center of yet another brawl at UFC 322, escorted out of Madison Square Garden just as the event’s main card kicked off.
Danis was seen going at it with Abubakar Nurmagomedov, among others; surprisingly, UFC CEO and President Dana White blames himself for what happened.
Speaking with media outlets including Cageside Press following the bout, White revealed that he was tipped off that Danis might be an issue before the brawl happened.
“I blame myself for that actually. They told me about that right before I walked out for the main card, that Dillon Danis was here and he was moving around sitting in fighter’s seats, and not sitting in his own seat that he had,” stated White. “He had a ticket.”
White was asked by security, before the brawl, if he wanted them to throw Danis out. “I said ‘he has a ticket?’ and they said ‘yeah.’ They told me ‘[Jorge] Masvidal said he’s going to f*ck him up on sight.'”
With Danis six rows away from Masvidal, however, White didn’t see too much cause for concern, and just asked his staff to keep an eye on Danis.
“It never even crossed my mind, as stupid as this could be, that the entire Muslim brotherhood was here tonight in the first five rows for Islam [Makhachev]. And as soon as it broke out, I was over on the other side and I go ‘f*ck. I know exactly what that is.’ And I knew it.”
Lesson learned. Dana White followed up with a promise. “You will never see Dillon Danis at a UFC fight ever again.”
Danis, who is undefeated in MMA and holds a belt under the Misfits banner, has claimed the UFC won’t sign him because he makes a lot of trouble. “That and a lot of other reasons,” scoffed White. “You’ll never see him at another fight.”
White was considerate enough not to have Danis charged, however. When asked, after Danis was taken into custody, “I said ‘no,'” revealed White. “We don’t want to press charges. This is the fight business. You know how I feel about this sh*t. And I could have prevented this tonight, and I messed up.”
That’s not to say that Dillon Danis is out of hot water, however. “We’re not pressing charges. I’m not speaking for MSG or anybody else who was involved in this thing.”
