Dillon Danis is mostly known for being the former BJJ trainer of Conor McGregor. However, years before he joined the Notorious, Danis was a force to be reckoned with in the world of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. However, a lot changed after Danis joined McGregor, and Gordon Ryan believes it was there that his downfall began. Most recently, Ryan ridiculed Danis for his upcoming boxing bout against KSI.
Gordon Ryan is probably the biggest name in the world of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Ryan has become a huge name in grappling, and his popularity has transcended BJJ, with UFC fans eagerly hoping for him to join the promotion.
Gordon Ryan: Dillon Danis has a record in jiu-jitsu, since black belt, of 18 wins and 16 losses. #TheMMAHour pic.twitter.com/0gf5swI5aq
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) December 19, 2022
In a recent conversation with MMA journalist Ariel Helwani, Gordon Ryan shared his thoughts on Dillon Danis, who is scheduled to take on KSI in a boxing bout in January 2023.
“He was pretty well respected as a Brown belt. He won a lot of things at Brown belt, he was like a big prospect at Black belt and then had the falling out with Marcelo, and then once he kind of got in with McGregor, that’s probably he started to fall apart. His popularity skyrocketed, but his career kind of fell apart from there.” Gordon said.
Dillon Danis won the gold at the Pan American No-Gi Championship back in 2016 in the 181 lbs division, and silver in the open weight category. As a brown belt, Danis won the IBJJF Pan Jiu-Jitsu No-Gi Championship in 2014, IBJJF Pan Jiu-Jitsu No-Gi Championship in 2014, and IBJJF New York Summer International Open in the same year.
It was in 2016, that Danis joined McGregor for his fight against Nate Diaz at UFC 202. A few months before this, McGregor had just succumbed to his first submission loss back at UFC 196.
Gordon Ryan looking for a rematch against Dillon Danis
There’s no denying, at the time, Dillon Danis was a huge name in BJJ. However, according to Ryan, he is not respected anymore. Be that as it may, Gordon appreciated Danis for his ability to stay relevant despite having not competed for a really long time.
Gordon Ryan and Dillon Danis came face to face on the mat back in 2017 at the ADCC World Championships. It was the same year that Gordon made his ADCC debut. Looking back at that match, Ryan said, “He played a very tactical kind of cagey game, he actually took me to a decision and I ended up winning a decision.” Ryan said. “But he was pretty well respected, coming up through Brown belt.” He further added.
Ryan believes with his increasing popularity, he now believes that a rematch with Dillon Danis is a clear possibility. Ryan has been looking to get that one back for a long time now, considering Danis has gained huge popularity over the fact that he fought Gordon Ryan, arguably the greatest BJJ practitioner today, to a decision.