Dillon Danis struck Logan Paul in the head with a microphone during their pre-fight face-off on Thursday, as their press conference descended into chaos.
Danis and Paul are due to box one another at Manchester’s AO Arena on Saturday (14 October), on the undercard of KSI’s fight with Tommy Fury. For weeks there has been speculation that Danis vs Paul will not take place, however, with many fans believing that the Americans’ bitter feud will eventually see one of them derail the fight.
Those fears were only heightened on Thursday, as the KSI vs Fury and Paul vs Danis press conference ended with Danis attacking Paul, after the YouTube star threw a small item at the jiu-jitsu champion’s leg. Security then held back both men.
The build to their fight has been unsavoury, with Danis, 30, repeatedly taking aim at Paul’s fiancee, Nina Agdal. On social media, Danis has posted numerous photos and clips of the Danish model with various men, leading Agdal to be granted a temporary restraining order in September.
Paul, 28, rose to fame on YouTube before crossing into boxing, WWE and business, launching the Prime energy drink company with KSI last year – having previously boxed the British YouTuber. Meanwhile, Danis is best known as a former teammate of UFC icon Conor McGregor, though he has his own in-ring experience in mixed martial arts and won gold at the 2016 Pan Jiu-Jitsu No-Gi championship.
However, Danis has not fought in MMA in four years, and he only has two professional bouts to his name. He was famously on the receiving end of Khabib Nurmagomedov’s post-fight attack in 2018, when the Russian jumped out of the Octagon and leapt into the crowd, moments after submitting McGregor to retain the UFC lightweight belt.
Logan Paul at the first press conference for his fight with Danis, in August— (PA)
Danis has never competed in the boxing ring before, having withdrawn from a scheduled bout against KSI in January, citing a lack of training. Despite his black-belt prowess, Danis was filmed getting caught in a choke by a bouncer in 2021, though the fighter did have a significant injury at the time.
Earlier on Thursday, KSI (real name Olajide Olatunji) was filmed seemingly spitting at John Fury, father of his opponent Tommy – who is the half-brother of heavyweight boxing champion Tyson.
Later, while KSI and Tommy Fury were facing off with one another, John began to punch and headbutt the glass divider between the opponents.
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