ROSEMONT, Ill. – If sports books took odds on what callouts fans might hear at MMA events, the one that happened to open the Bellator 175 main card would’ve been a big longshot.

But there Steve Kozola (8-0 MMA, 3-0 BMMA) was on Friday night, talking to Bellator color commentator Jimmy Smith in the center of the cage after a 28-second knockout win over Jake Roberts (7-2 MMA, 1-2 BMMA), calling out Dillon Danis (0-0 MMA, 0-0 BMMA).

And there was Danis, sitting cageside, laughing and calmly giving Kozola the finger. Danis, a world-class grappler best known as Conor McGregor’s jiu-jitsu coach ahead of his rematch with Nate Diaz, is signed to Bellator, but has said he’s not likely to make his MMA debut until the fall.

After the event, which took place at Allstate Arena in the northwest Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Ill., with a main card on Spike, Kozola told MMAjunkie calling Danis out for a fight was mostly a matter of believing the New Yorker isn’t being his authentic self, but rather trying to imitate McGregor.

“Conor is authentic for who he is – he’s been like that since the beginning of his career,” Kozola told MMAjunkie. “I followed Dillon before he became Conor McGregor’s (jiu-jitsu) coach. I never saw this from him – never saw this ‘Look at my fashion, look at this money,’ everything like that. First of all, you don’t even have money. Whatever money you have, Conor’s giving to you, all right, for training him. You don’t make much off BJJ.

“But be your authentic self. That’s how you go far, is being true to who you are – being true to the martial arts. He is a Marcelo Garcia black belt. Marcelo Garcia is the nicest guy in Brazilian jiu-jitsu in the world. There’s no way that you get a black belt from him with that type of attitude. There’s just no way.”

Danis has said he wants to finish his grappling competition year before he signs on for his Bellator and MMA debut – but told MMAjunkie on Thursday that the right price tag could move his debut up to earlier than late fall or early winter.

Would a fight with Kozola have that kind of price tag? Maybe not. But Kozola believes that at some point down the road, Danis will have to fight him, or one of his teammates, no matter what.

“At some point, he thought that he was going to increase his stock, increase his popularity, which is true, through this manner,” Kozola said. “But that’s not how you’re going to get far in the long (run). He got what he wanted: Now he’s in a major promotion. He’s doing MMA. He’s going to try to say he’s making his big bucks. But the thing is, he’s going to walk into an authentic fighter – someone like myself, if he comes down to 155. Or if he goes to 170, he’s eventually going to run into my teammate Fernando Gonzalez, who will do just as bad, if not worse to him, than I will. That’s not how you’re going to make it.

“Be true to who you are. He’s a great martial artist. He’s a great jiu-jitsu practitioner. Carry that with you – build that. You’re not going to be the best copycat. You need to be authentic and be original. Don’t be a copycat.”

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