Dillon Danis managed to break into mainstream media through his association to arguably biggest star in the UFC – Connor McGregor. But it came at a steep price as just yesterday his longtime mentor GOAT Marcelo Garcia announced that he’s suspended Danis from the team indefinitely for a shift in focus in addition to other things. Garcia was quoted saying
“Sometimes you are up, sometimes you are down and you need a positive energy to receive positivity in return,if you care for people, people will care for you. I realize some people aren’t focusing on this, they are focusing on social media. Things that are not important, and they have forced me to make a decision.”
Looking at Danis social media it’s hard not to reflect this on his interaction with his next opponent Jake Shields who he will be fighting at Chael Sonnen’s Submission Underground 4 in Mid May.
The two belong to opposite camps in many ways, most prominently Shields was part of the Diaz training camp while Danis is of course team McGregor.
You might remember the infamous water bottle throwing incident.
Well according to Shields, him and Danis really got into it -in fact Shields spilled coffee all over Danis in the process:
And Danis most recently goaded the social media implying Shields is inept at throwing instigating his ouster from the Marcelo Garcia Dream Team.
Shields is surprisingly level headed talking to WSOF about the grappling match:
“I think he got a lot of hype around the Conor McGregor thing. But he is one of the top young guys,” Shields said of his opponent. “As far as no-gi grappling goes he’s one of the better guys out there. But he’s also riding the Conor train and I think that’s why a lot of people want to see him lose.”
“He has his fans and his following but there’s definitely guys out there that want to see him lose. I don’t think he’s as hated AJ Agazarm but Dillon is probably one of top 3 or 4 guys though,” Shields said.
Shields also acknowledged he’s a bit older but still isn’t timid about the prospect of facing off.
“Yeah there’s a little motivation to that,” Shields said of continuing the Diaz-McGregor rivalry. “With these rivalries, there’s always a little more motivation to go out there and beat the guy. It’s nothing personal against the guy but yeah there’s a rivalry there.”
