03 October 2023 , 17:40
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Dillon Danis has admitted that he went through serious struggles with his mental health during a "dark time" in his four years out of action.
The Bellator MMA star will return to fighting in the boxing ring next week when he faces Logan Paul in Manchester after suffering through a brutal knee injury which required two surgeries. He never strayed far from the headlines during his time off, continuing to call out top fighters across the combat sports world.
And with unwavering belief in his abilities, it was a frustrating period on the sidelines for Danis, who last night explained how much he struggled with his time away from the cage. He is planning to return to MMA action after fighting Paul, and believes that he will be heading for the UFC immediately where he wants to face top contenders.
"It got to the point where I didn’t know if I was going to be alive again,” Danis said during an appearance on The MMA Hour. “There’s a lot of people with a lot more problems than me. You go from training, being so good, and then just sitting there in a cast, can’t move, don’t know if you’re ever going to be the same.
"Twice in the same year, your f***ing leg is up like this. You get into a dark place. You start drinking, you do bad things… And then all you do is just drink all day." He compared his injury to that of Cleveland Browns' football player Nick Chubb who suffered a season-ending injury after just two weeks of this year's NFL season, claiming that he tore even more ligaments.
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"You saw that guy that broke his leg, Nick Chubb?" Danis asked. "He tore less ligaments than me, and I had that twice in the same year and most athletes don't come back from that. It was hard because I didn't realise growing up that Jiu-Jitsu was like my zen. I go train and then I feel better after."
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Danis was due to fight in January of 2020 before he suffered that injury, which ruled him out for a period that was extended by the coronavirus pandemic. He was then in serious talks to fight Jake Paul in April of 2021, but was still struggling with the injury and ended up being replaced by Ben Askren.
Eventually he put pen to paper on a deal to fight KSI in January of this year, but pulled out due to being underprepared. And he last night explained to host Ariel Helwani that he "didn't care about" the fight, instead opting to return this month against Paul as the co-headliner to KSI vs Tommy Fury in Manchester.