Dillon Danis is a Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt under Marcelo Garcia, being part of a fruitful generation of grapplers produced by the well respected Alliance New York academy head coach. Danis became a BJJ fan household name after his 2014 brown belt run, through his eye-pleasing performances in some of jiu jitsu’s hardest tournaments, where he showcased a forward moving style which recognition in the sport. In 2016 Danis’ accomplishments led Irish mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) star Conor McGregor to hire his services in the capacity of grappling coach ahead of UFC 202 ‘Diaz vs. McGregor 2’ event.

Dillon Danis Jiu Jitsu

Full Name: Dillon Danis

Nickname: n/a

Lineage: Mitsuyo Maeda > Carlos Gracie > Helio Gracie > Rolls Gracie > Romero Cavalcanti > Fabio Gurgel >Marcelo Garcia > Dillon Danis

Main Achievements:

1st Place IBJJF Pan Championship No-Gi (2016**)

1st Place IBJJF New York Spring Open (2016**)

1st Place IBJJF Boca Raton Open (2015)

Main Achievements (Colored Belts):

1st Place IBJJF World Championship (2014 brown)

1st Place UAEJJF Abu Dhabi World Pro (2014 brown)

1st Place IBJJF World Championship No-Gi (2014** brown)

1st Place IBJJF Pan Championship (2014**/2013 brown)

1st Place IBJJF Pan Championship No-Gi (2014**/2013 brown)

1st Place IBJJF New York Summer Open (2014** brown)

1st Place IBJJF New York Spring Open (2015* brown)

2nd Place IBJJF New York Spring Open (2015 brown)

3rd Place IBJJF Pan Championship No-Gi (2013* brown, 2012 purple)

* Absolute division

* Absolute and weight divisions

Favorite Position/Technique: Kneebar

Weight Division: Peso Médio (82kg/181lbs)

Team/Association: Alliance

Dillon Danis Biography

Dillon Danis was born on August 22nd, 1993 in New Jersey – United States of America.

At 15 years of age he decided to start training jiu jitsu, this was due to a street fight at his school where Dillon managed to pull off a choke. Although he didn’t know how to grapple, he felt it was the right approach to the fight game, joining Jaime Cruz‘ academy in New Jersey.

Danis was not a strong teenager at the time, who (by his own admission) couldn’t do one single push-up. To make matters worse, his fellow jiu-jitsu classmates were all adults. To help his own development in grappling, Dillon added wrestling to his workload, training at Parsippany Hills with coach Jason Lodato.

Danis went through the jiu-jitsu belt system at Jamie Cruz’ academy, adding trips to Marcelo Garcia’s academy in New York from the age of 17. When Dillon turned 19, and with the sole purpose of becoming a professional jiu-jitsu athlete, he decided to move to New York and train full-time at Marcelo Garcia’s academy. His hard work and dedication paid off with wins at the sport’s most prestigious tournaments in 2014, these wins earned Danis his black belt on April 13, 2015.

In 2016 Danis was invited to become a coach and main grappling training partner of Irish mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter Conor McGregor ahead of the Notorious’ match against Nate Diaz, for UFC 202. Dillon became one of the bigger stars of that camp, particularly with the constant tribulations between both training camps on the build-up to that contest. As his personality developed at the McGregor camp, and he became more voiceful in his social media, the bad boy stigma led coach Marcelo Garcia to sever ties with Dillon Danis, on April 2017, claiming this was not the image he wanted to have associated with his academy.

Although Danis did not have amateur experience as an MMA fighter, once he chose to make the transition to cage-fighting, his name recognition immediately granted him the interest of a few major promotions with Bellator taking the contract. Dillon’s debut took place on April 28, 2018. A submission win over Kyle Walker.

Dillon Danis on BJJ Hacks



Dillon Danis Highlight



Dillon Danis vs AJ Sousa

