DILLON DANIS HAS insisted that he did not spark a brawl at UFC 229 by directing a religious slur at lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.
An unsavoury incident followed Saturday’s main event, in which Nurmagomedov made a successful defence of his title by submitting Conor McGregor in the fourth round.
Moments after his victory, the undefeated Russian leapt from the cage and attempted to attack Danis, who was part of McGregor’s corner team.
There were subsequently chaotic scenes at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, with the Nevada State Athletic Commission currently conducting an investigation.
A report from TMZ accused Danis of provoking Nurmagomedov, a devout Muslim, with a racial slur, but that has been strenuously denied by the 25-year-old.
In a statement released to ESPN, Danis said: “Khabib fans are attempting to smear me in an effort to justify his actions. I have never and would never denigrate anyone’s religion.
“I look forward to the results of the Nevada Gaming Commission investigation which will reject this bullshit claim and put the blame where it belongs.”
Danis, a native of New York, has been associated with McGregor’s team since prior to the Dubliner’s rematch with Nate Diaz in 2016.
An elite jiu-jitsu practitioner, Danis made a successful start to his professional MMA career under the umbrella of the Bellator promotion earlier this year.
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In fairness to him, for a lad who people claim to have no stand up, he gave khabib a bit of a hiding.
@Conor Mc Nally: hiding? Haha good one
@Conor Mc Nally: what? A deluded Danis fan, there’s a first.
The lads at bellator are probably pretty happy about the amount of publicity this lad got.
There’s a video that shows danis getting pushed in the crowd by khabibs mate, he pushes the guy back, Khabib sees this and hops over the barrier at ridiculous speed and the brawl commences. I think religion is being used as an excuse. The only indirect insult towards his religion he’s gotten in the entire build up is when he was offered whiskey
@Rudiger McMonihan: send the video link