Dana White didn’t mince words following UFC 323 at Madison Square Garden when addressing the chaotic brawl involving social media personality and grappler Dillon Danis.
After an altercation erupted during the main card involving Danis and members of Islam Makhachev’s team, the UFC CEO made his position crystal clear: Danis is permanently banned from attending future UFC events.
The incident unfolded when Danis, who had purchased a ticket to the event, began moving around the arena and sitting in seats reserved for fighters rather than his assigned location.
White revealed that his security team had approached him before the main card began, warning him about Danis’s presence and erratic behavior. They even mentioned that Jorge Masvidal had threatened to confront Danis on sight, as the two were seated several rows apart.
White admitted in the press conference that he made a critical error in judgment by allowing Danis to remain in the venue. “I blame myself for that actually,” White confessed during the post-fight press conference. “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.”
When the brawl erupted, White immediately recognized what was happening. “As soon as it broke out, I was over on the other side and I go, ‘F**k, I know exactly what that is.’ I knew it,” he said. The altercation resulted in Danis being escorted from the arena, with security asking White if he wanted to press charges and have Danis arrested.
True to his old-school approach to business disputes, White declined to press charges. “It’s the fight business, man. You know how I feel about this s**t,” he explained, though he emphasized he was only speaking for the UFC and not Madison Square Garden or other parties potentially involved.
However, White’s leniency ended there. When asked about the consequences for Danis, who has long sought to compete in the UFC, White was definitive: “You will never see Dillon Danis at a UFC fight ever again.” He acknowledged that Danis’s history of causing trouble was among “a lot of other reasons” why the promotion has never signed him.
The incident cast a shadow over what was otherwise a successful event, featuring Islam Makhachev’s dominant title defense and several standout performances.
