Conor McGregor’s teammate Dillon Danis explains how the UFC 229 post-main event brawl was sparked.
McGregor challenged UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov back in Oct. 2018. The feud between the two got heated with “The Eagle” surrounding Artem Lobov with members from his team and McGregor attacking a fighter bus holding Nurmagomedov. McGregor even brought up the personal life of Nurmagomedov’s manager Ali Abdelaziz.
Dillon Danis Talks UFC 229 Brawl
Nurmagomedov ended up submitting McGregor in the fourth round. “The Eagle” charged after Dillon Danis in the crowd and all hell broke loose. During an appearance on ESPN’s Ariel Helwani MMA Show, Danis explained what sparked the brawl (via BJPenn.com):
“This started I think in the third or second round. I was behind the cage and he (Khabib) started to come, he was pointing and saying stuff to me. I was thinking in my head this guy is crazy. I was just trying to focus on my friend and he kept saying stuff and cursing. Like this dude is insane. Even in between rounds, he was eyeing and mouthing stuff. It started during the fight so I could kind of sense he was in a different state of mind.
“After the fight, even with Nate Diaz, any of them, it is usually respect. I would never ever start a fight with someone after a fight. I’m a martial artist from the beginning, since I was a kid,” he continued. “That is just not who I am. I’m not going to be the kind of guy after a fight to be like ‘F you.’ You know? That is just not me.
“After the fight was over I was in obviously in shock. Conor is one of my closest friends, training partners, I care about him a lot. I got up and I’m just sitting there because I just saw my friend lose. I felt someone hitting me on the back really hard so I’m thinking it was the commission trying to go in the cage. I look back and it was him (Rizvan Magomedov). So I’m like what’s up. Then I turn around and see Khabib throw the mouthpiece or something and there was spit on me because when he threw the mouthpiece, there was spit everywhere. So I was like ‘alright come here.’ So he ended up jumping the cage and whatever happened happened. It was crazy, it just kind of happened.”
McGregor ended up receiving a six-month suspension, while Nurmagomedov ate a nine-month sanction with the option to reduce it to six with an anti-bullying PSA. Danis received a seven-month suspension. All sanctions are retroactive to Oct. 6. Danis recently revealed he will be competing on the Bellator 221 card on May 11.
