Shocking scenes ensued inside Madison Square Garden on Saturday night, after a wild brawl between UFC stars broke out in between fights.
In clips seen on social media, Dillon Danis was spotted in a heated confrontation with Islam Makhachev’s camp before tensions boiled over and a fight broke out.
A number of Makhachev’s team – which includes UFC fighters such as Magomed Zaynukov – were seen throwing punches at Danis cageside. The brawl also erupted right next to Jack Della Madellena’s wife Michelle and mother, Sonya.
In one clip in particular, Zaynukov could be seen landing heavy blows to the side of Danis’ head while the latter attempted to diffuse a brawl happening beside him.
Police and security attempted to diffuse the situation however the terrifying scenes continued as members from both camps continued to charge at one-another.
After nearly five minutes of brawling, Danis and a number of Makhachev’s team were escorted away from the octagon and taken backstage at Madison Square Garden.
In the event’s press conference later in the night, UFC chief Dana White confirmed that the UFC were not pressing charges against Danis over the incident.
However, he insisted: ‘You will never see Dillon Danis at another UFC fight’.
White also revealed that, earlier in the night, Danis had been causing issues after repeatedly sitting in cageside seats that were intended for other fighters.
However, this incident can likely be explained by Danis’ long-running feud with Makhachev, dating back to the infamous post‑fight melee after Khabib Nurmagomedov’s victory over Conor McGregor.
Danis, at the time, was a core member of McGregor’s team and was seen in viral videos clashing with Khabib’s crew after they charged at the Irishman post-fight.
Last month, Danis claimed Makhachev ‘punched me in the head seven times’ during that post-fight brawl.
‘He jumped in such a weird way where he jumped with his feet and hands,’ Danis told the MightyCast podcast. ‘It was like the weirdest thing. So I didn’t know what to block, he had his feet in the air and his hands up.
‘I was like, am I getting drop-kicked right now? I should have just run forward and tackled him. That would have been the best thing, but in the moment I didn’t know what he was going to hit me with. So he landed and we got into that brawl.
‘Then f***ing security is holding me and Islam punched me in the back of the head, but during the whole fight it was kind of building up in the corner. They were saying s*** to me and Islam was saying s*** to me.’
