NEW YORK – Alex Pereira hopes Dillon Danis ends up in the UFC.
Danis, a former Bellator fighter, now is a free agent after he was released from his contract. After a layoff of more than three years due to injury, Danis returned to competition in a boxing match against Logan Paul in October. He lost the exhibition match by disqualification.
In preparation for his fight against Paul, Danis spent some time training with former UFC middleweight champion Pereira in New Jersey. “Poatan” had high praise for Danis, and would like it if he ended up under the same banner as him.
“I trained with him. We did two nice sessions, one before (my Jan) Blachowicz fight, which was MMA training, and another one for this fight that he had with Logan,” Pereira told MMA Junkie and other reporters through an interpreter at a news conference Wednesday.
“First, we did the MMA session. I could see that he is a very talented kid. We had two nice sessions. He’s a great guy, and the fact that he’s in negotiations with the UFC or trying to get in is awesome, and I’m very pumped for him. I root for him.”
Danis, a standout jiu-jitsu competitor, made the transition to MMA in April 2018. He won two fights under the Bellator banner with submissions of Kyle Walker and Max Humphrey.
Thursday, Danis (2-0 MMA, 2-0 BMMA) suggested on social media the UFC should sign him and have him coach “The Ultimate Fighter” opposite British fan favorite Paddy Pimblett (20-3 MMA, 4-0 UFC) with a fight at the show’s conclusion.
My UFC debut against Paddy Pimblett would be quite the show, the buildup alone would be electric! And if we want to add some fun, we could be coaches on The Ultimate Fighter and have our fight at the end. Imagine the entertainment that would generate. Let's give the people what…
— Dillon Danis (@dillondanis) November 9, 2023
You can check highlights of Pereira and Danis training courtesy of Pereira’s YouTube channel:
Pereira (8-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC) will look to capture a UFC belt in a second weight class Saturday when he faces Jiri Prochazka (29-3-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) for the vacant light heavyweight title in the UFC 295 main event at Madison Square Garden in New York. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPNews and early prelims on ESPN+.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 295.
