Jiu-jitsu competitor Gordon Ryan said that after teaming up with UFC superstar Conor McGregor, Dillon Danis’ career crumbled.
Danis has won gold in multiple jiu-jitsu competitions but is most recognized for his friendship with former UFC champion McGregor. The American received his black belt in jiu-jitsu in 2015. He was hired by McGregor to assist him to develop his ground game after Nate Diaz choked him out in the first UFC loss of his career.
After McGregor defeated Diaz in their rematch, Danis continued to be one of the Irishman’s training partners. According to Ryan, Danis’ career has only gotten worse since he began training with McGregor.
Ryan noted on The MMA Hour,
“He was pretty well-respected as a brown belt. He won a lot of things at brown belt and he was a big prospect at black belt and then he had the falling out with Marcelo [Garcia] and then once he kind of got in with McGregor, that’s when he started to fall apart. His popularity skyrocketed, but his career kind of fell apart from there.”
Ryan also made fun of Danis’ jiu-jitsu record.
“Everyone thinks that he’s this. Well, I’ve been dying to actually say this on a big podcast, Dillon Danis has a record in jiu-jitsu since [getting] black belt of 18 wins and 16 losses. He’s not nearly as good at jiu-jitsu as people think he is.”
Danis is a Bellator signee who has only competed twice in the previous four years. Danis used to compete in combat sports, but repeated injuries have made that impossible. Danis now keeps his name in the news by trolling prominent MMA personalities online. In Ryan’s opinion, Gordon is a master at “staying relevant” without competing.
Ryan said, “The thing about Dillon is he’s an absolute master at managing to stay relevant without actually doing anything combat related. I don’t know how he does it, but he does it and props to him. His family must have money, because he doesn’t do anything to generate revenue.”
“He doesn’t have sponsors, if you look at his Instagram, he doesn’t teach, he doesn’t compete. I don’t know how he’s not homeless. He must have an inheritance or something, but he manages to stay relevant.”