Dillon Danis: ‘UFC Doesn’t Want Me Running Through Their Roster Because It Makes Them Look Bad’

Dillon Danis says UFC brass want to see him shake off the rust before handing him a contract. Mixed martial arts fans have watched Dillon Danis hop between promotions since 2019, amassing a 2–0 MMA record with Bellator before switching to boxing.

Dillon Danis explains Why The UFC hasn’t Signed Him

Despite public entreaties and a high-profile removal from Conor McGregor’s corner in 2018, Danis still lacks a UFC contract. In a new interview with Ringside with Abbas, he explained exactly why Dana White is keeping him on ice.

Danis points out that Dana White “just wanted to see me active because it’s been six years. So, he knows I’ll run through all those guys in the top 15. And so he’s like, ‘If you come in and you’re 2 and 0, might look bad for the company.’ So they were like, ‘Just get a couple wins so then when you come in and smash Kevin Holland and smash all these bums, just, you know, make sure that you’re not two and 0, ’cause it’s going to make our company look bad.’”

Danis earned his stripes in Bellator with two quick submission victories in 2019, but then stepped away from MMA. White himself admitted to not having given Danis’s potential UFC debut much thought, stating plainly, “I don’t know. I haven’t even thought about that” when asked if he’d sign the grappler-turned-boxer.

Beyond the 2–0 paradox, Dana White has flagged Danis’s reputation for friction. White noted that whenever Danis shows up, “sh*t’s going down,” referring to past scuffles at UFC 229 and on press-tour stages, and warned that the athletic commission “goes crazy” over unscripted melees. The UFC chief prefers trash talk to turn physical drama into fines and bad press, rather than a selling point.

A further snag: Danis’s ring inactivity. Between knee injuries and a focus on boxing, he’s rarely entered an MMA cage since 2019. Hunter Campbell, the UFC’s chief business officer, reportedly echoed White’s concerns in private talks – Danis needs to reestablish himself before competing against top-15 welterweights.

That framework, though, clashes with Danis’s brand. He’s positioned himself as a marquee name capable of selling pay-per-views, pointing to his social media following and media buzz from Logan Paul’s boxing card. Yet Danis admitted he doesn’t want to grind through Dana White’s Contender Series; he’d rather “retire” than take a developmental route. Without compromise, he remains stuck between Bellator’s exit ramp and the Octagon’s open door.

On August 30, he steps back into MMA for the first time since 2019, facing Warren Spencer at Manchester Arena for Misfits Boxing 22. The bout marks the inaugural MF MMA light heavyweight title fight and launches Misfits Boxing’s new MMA division. Spencer, a 1-0 professional boxer making his MMA debut, has already admitted he’ll tap immediately if taken down because “the world needs to see you strike.”

Danis called his opponent “a dead man walking” and predicted Spencer will “be in the hospital” with torn-up knees for “two or three years.”