Dillon Danis did not hold back in his first public comments since being involved in the UFC 229 postfight melee with UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov in October. Danis, appearing on Ariel Helwani's MMA Show, described the incident from his perspective.
"I would never, ever start a fight with someone after a fight. That's just not who I am. That's just not me," Danis said. "I felt someone hitting me on the back -- like really hard. I'm thinking it's the commission or someone trying to get into the cage. Then I look back and it was (one of Khabib's managers).
"I said, 'What's up?' Then I turn around and see Khabib throw the mouthpiece. He jumped over the cage and whatever happened, happened. It was kind of crazy."
Danis, a Bellator MMA fighter and training partner with Conor McGregor, was sitting cageside for the Nurmagomedov-McGregor matchup in Las Vegas. After his fourth-round submission win, Nurmagomedov jumped over the cage and into the crowd in an attempt to kick Danis. A brawl ensued between both teams as a result. Danis was accused of calling Nurmagomedov an anti-Muslim slur after the fight.
"I have very close friends that are Muslim and many religions," Danis said. "That really hurt me, actually. I would never say anything like that in my life."
The Nevada State Athletic Commission suspended Nurmagomedov nine months and fined him $500,000 of a disclosed $2 million purse. He is eligible to return July 6. McGregor received a six-month suspension and fined $50,000. The former lightweight and featherweight champion can return as soon as April 6.
Danis' role in the brawl earned him a seven-month suspension and $7,500 fine from the NSAC. It is retroactive to Oct. 6, meaning he can fight on May 6. A top jiu-jitsu practitioner, he has fought only one time professionally in MMA, defeating Kyle Walker by first-round submission last April.
Danis said that when Nurmagomedov jumped from the cage, he wasn't sure the best way to defend himself in that moment.
"I was like, how do I block this? Do I block the kick or the punch? I was really confused," he said. "He didn't really hit me. I hit him with a right hand and then had him in the clinch and had a collar tie on him. I was throwing uppercuts on him. The only time I was hit was when I was restrained by the law enforcement. That's all I remember. It was just mayhem after that."
Danis also announced on the show that he will be facing Max Humphrey at Bellator 221 on May 11 in Chicago.