Dillon Danis: Dana White 'has never said no' to him signing with UFC |
29/08/2025 15:00 -
Dillon Danis is saying there's a chance you could see him compete in the UFC octagon in the future.
Danis returns to MMA competition for the first time in over six years this Saturday when he faces Warren Spencer in the first ever mixed martial arts bout under the Misfits banner at Misfits Boxing 22. Danis holds two submission wins under the Bellator banner, but has only competed in a boxing match against Logan Paul — which he lost by disqualification at The PRIME Card in October 2023 — since submitting Max Humphrey at Bellator 222 in June 2019.
The 32-year-old says he's had conversations with UFC CEO Dana White and Chief Business Officer Hunter Campbell, who have told Danis the door has not shut on him.
"Dana was like, 'You're a liability,'" Danis told MMA Fighting. "That's why this week, I'm keeping it calm, showing them. And Hunter was like, 'Just go and show [you can stay calm].' I mean, Hunter sees everything, and Dana has never said no. From what I heard, if Dana doesn't say no, that means it's a yes. … When Dana says, 'F*ck that,' he's not going to do it. But he never says no, he just says like, 'Oh, I'll think about it.' So he wants to do it.
"Hunter is a little bit skeptical, but I think this is helping me, going out there fighting someone that, maybe he's not a big name because sometimes they think I just want to do stuff for cameras and shit like that. So me going and building up my record — this guy's 1-0, I'm 2-0 — just showing them that I'm ready to fight anybody at any time is going to help."
Danis says his plan would be to win the Misfits MMA title this Saturday, and then, hopefully, defend it against Tony Ferguson if the former UFC interim lightweight champion gets a win in his boxing match against Salt Papi on the same card. If not, Danis believes Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal would be interested in facing him.
Of course, Danis has other ideas, and if the UFC calls about acquiring his services, he'll say yes immediately — plus already has a road map of how he'd like to get his octagon tenure going, including a fight against Islam Makhachev.
"If UFC makes the call, that's 100 percent," Danis said. "We were talking about that before, you know, me and Islam for the belt, get to finish that storyline. He punched me in the head five times when I was being held. [I can] get my revenge on him and finish the storyline. He's never fought a grappler like me.
"But I mean, I can get my feet wet. Give me like a Kevin Holland, someone shitty like that. Daniel Rodriguez is terrible, too. There's guys I'll be watching on these UFC cards, I'm like, 'Oh, my God. Why? They're so bad.'"
