Magomed Zaynukov, a.k.a. “Chanko,” a.k.a. “John Pork,” has admitted to attacking Dillon Danis at UFC 322 at Madison Square Garden on Saturday.
Much of the brawl was caught on camera, but questions remained as to who instigated the incident, which ultimately saw the UFC decline to press charges. Danis and Abubakar Nurmagomedov were immediately identified; “Chanko’s” presence was confirmed a short time later when alternate angles of the incident showed him striking Danis to the back of the head.
Zaynukov, a training partner of Islam Makhachev, became an MMA meme when Khabib Nurmagomedov mispronounced his nickname, making it sound like “John Pork” and setting off a string of memes online (helped by the fact that “John Pork” was already a pig-faced character on the internet).
That fun little bit of MMA trivia, however, is no longer what Zaynukov may be known for moving forward. Instead, in a repeat of UFC 229 in 2018, Dillon Danis found himself at the center of a brawl instigated by Team Khabib, as teammates of Khabib and new welterweight champ Islam Makhachev, including Zaynukov, attacked Misfits MMA champ Danis just prior to the UFC 322 main card commencing.
While UFC President and CEO Dana White later announced that Danis would be banned from UFC events moving forward, in a new interview, Zaynukov confirmed that he had attacked the American fighter and BJJ athlete over past comments.
“He has to answer for everything that is said, and he allowed himself to do such things, posted, threw up all sorts of incomprehensible posts,” Zaynukov told Ushatayka (Russian translation via YouTube, h/t MMA Fighting). “… There was no time to think about anything. I flew in and hit him from the right; he fell, and then it all went on and on from there. … In the end, we were kicked out. It would have been better if we had watched the fight at home in the hotel.”
While Zaynukov says it would have been better to stay at the hotel, however, it doesn’t appear he’s talking about avoiding an embarrassing public display of stupidity and narrowly avoiding arrest. Rather, he added that “I think it was not enough. This was not enough for him. In terms of what he’s done, it’s not much. That type of thing can’t be forgiven. You have to be responsible for that. That’s our way of life. If you said something, you’ve got to be responsible for your words.”
It’s unclear what specific words by Danis are being referred to, though there are no doubt plenty to choose from. The former Bellator fighter and training partner of Conor McGregor is notorious for getting into more beefs online than he has actual fights in the cage.
Magomed Zaynukov is under contract with the UFC after winning his way into the promotion on the Contender Series, but does not have a debut date scheduled. It remains to be seen if the promotion will choose to take action against the fighter, or if the athletic commission in New York will choose to get involved.
In an eerily similar set of circumstances, Khabib Nurmagomedov scaled the octagon to launch himself at Danis following the culmination of UFC 229 in October 2018. During the brawl that ensued, Zubaira Tukhugov, another member of the Nurmagomedov/Makhachev camp, struck Conor McGregor from behind. All involved – Nurmagomedov, McGregor, Tukhugov, and Danis – were later hauled before the Nevada Athletic Commission, with various sanctions handed out.
