Getty Conor McGregor & Nate Diaz
Mixed martial arts superstar Nate Diaz and Conor McGregor’s friend Dillon Danis got into it outside Madison Square Garden after Saturday’s UFC 281 concluded.
CBS Sports’ Shakiel Mahjouri shared a video of Diaz and Danis coming face to face in a sea of fans and immediately being split apart. You can watch it below via the embedded tweet:
Love how Dillon Danis re-emerges just to get slapped by Nate Diaz #UFC281
Another video was shared of the incident which took place before Mahjouri’s clip, and it shows Diaz slapping a man right beside Danis and Paradigm Sports’ Audi Attar. Watch below:
Nate Diaz slaps Dillon danis teammate at Madison Square Garden #UFC281
At the time of this writing, it’s unclear what was said and what went down between Diaz and Danis. However, the two have a well-documented history. McGregor’s team brought Danis in to help prepare the Irishman for his second fight with Diaz in 2016.
Diaz had beaten “Notorious” at UFC 196 via rear-naked choke, and Danis is a highly credentialed Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt. Diaz and McGregor rematched at UFC 202 and McGregor won the fight via majority decision.
Diaz and Danis have bantered several times, so it’s no surprise that they got heated when they saw each other in person.
Danis Tweeted After the Incident, Insinuated That He Smacked Diaz
Danis took to Twitter after the fact and tweeted: “ask nate diaz how that smack tastes.”
ask nate diaz how that smack tastes 😂
Danis had shared a photo of himself earlier on Twitter when he was inside Madison Square Garden to spectate UFC 281, writing: “the biggest name in combat sports history just walked in the building… the real main event is here.”
Danis is currently a 2-0 professional mixed martial artist with his last bout taking place in 2019 under the Bellator banner.
This post will be updated when more information is provided about the incident.
UFC President Dana White Reacted to the Diaz vs. Danis Incident
During the UFC 281 post-fight press conference, MMA Junkie’s Mike Bohn informed UFC president Dana White that Diaz and Danis had gotten into a scuffle outside the venue. “That’s a shocker,” White said sarcastically. “Did he really?”
White was then asked if he had spoken with Diaz while the beloved fighter was at the event. Diaz fought out his UFC contract in September, and the MMA world has been waiting to see what Diaz’s next step will be — whether it be re-signing with the promotion or competing in another combat sport, like boxing or Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
“This thing’s been sold out for a while. I know Nate called last night and wanted tickets — he wanted six tickets,” White said. “We didn’t have six tickets to give him. So, he ended up figuring it out and got some seats. And yeah, I went over and talked to him tonight. You know, it’s all good.
“And every time they show up, I expect something to happen.”
The UFC president went on to say that it didn’t bother him that Diaz got into a post-event tussle.
Diaz was involved in another scuffle last month during the Jake Paul vs. Anderson Silva Showtime PPV event. Team Diaz and Team Paul got into it while backstage inside the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona.