21 January 2023 , 16:07
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Dillon Danis has vowed to submit Jake Paul after watching him practice jiu-jitsu for his upcoming MMA debut, joking he could do it with his hands and legs tied behind his back.
The Bellator fighter hasn't competed in almost four years after battling with injuries, and most recently pulled out of a boxing match with YouTube star KSI after his team informed promoters that he was "underprepared". But holding a black belt in jiu-jitsu, he is confident that a fight in the MMA cage with Paul would end quickly.
YouTuber-turned-boxer Paul has announced that he will be joining the PFL and making his MMA debut in the coming months, and as such began his training for a bout in the cage this week. He is currently in camp for a fight with Tommy Fury in Saudi Arabia, but took some time out to train with black belt Mike Perez.
Perez, who has travelled over to Paul's HQ in Puerto Rico, was joined by Mo Jassim who runs the ADCC Submission Fighting World Championship, which is a major international submission grappling competition. Paul shared footage of the trio working together, but Danis was unimpressed with the series of clips saying "I'll submit him with my arms and legs tied together."
It's likely that if Paul and Danis were to compete in the cage that the 2-0 MMA fighter's grappling skills would see him hold a significant advantage over his rival, who wrestled in high school before taking up boxing in his twenties. But after pulling out of a number of fights in the past few years, it's unlikely that any major names will commit to facing him any time soon.
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Danis was once offered a bout with Paul for an April 2021 date and a deal was almost agreed, before his knee injury was aggravated and he required a further surgery. The YouTuber ended up facing Ben Askren at the time, and has since moved on to considerably bigger names in the MMA world such as Anderson Silva and Tyron Woodley.
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Then, he was supposed to fight Jake's brother Logan Paul this month before the YouTuber picked up an injury during a WWE appearance. The card was quickly shuffled around to allow Danis to fight KSI, before he pulled out on ten days' notice, costing him a massive payday, as well as his reputation with many fans.
Meanwhile, it is unclear where the fighter's future lies after so many years hampered by inactivity. He is still signed with Bellator, but promotional president Scott Coker seems uninterested in him unless he takes proactive steps to land himself on one of the promotion's numerous upcoming cards.
Danis was a respected jiu-jitsu black belt before transitioning to MMA in 2018. He had joined up with Conor McGregor's team in 2016 ahead of his rematch with Nate Diaz, and has since developed a persona as one of the sport's most notorious trolls, which he has rarely backed up with in-cage action.