Dillon Danis had to pay Bellator President Scott Coker for the rights to box KSI. Danis is best known as a former training partner of Conor McGregor who has gone 2-0 in MMA since 2018.
The MMA fighter Dillon Danis wanted to have a boxing match against YouTuber KSI but is still under contract with Bellator. Bellator promotes under Showtime while KSI promotes under DAZN. Danis planning to box against KSI on DAZN, Showtime didn’t like this. Because of that, Danis had to pay Bellator for the rights to do so.
Dillon Danis had to pay Scott Coker
In an interview on The MMA Hour, Danis explained the situation to Ariel Helwani. He said:
“I don’t know if I’m allowed to talk about how I had to do that, because Showtime and DAZN are rivals, so I had to pay a hefty fee. It’s a lot of money. What I’m paying Coker to let me fight is more than probably every UFC [fighter makes]. I’m still with them. It would be different if I was with Showtime, because Showtime, they have a deal with them.”
Danis went on to explain that Bellator President Scott Coker was likely mad that his comeback fight was not in Bellator. He said:
“He wants me to come back to MMA, his star. Obviously, there’s no one in Bellator that’s going to bring that kind of noise. Who brings that much hype? I just think that he’s mad The big comeback should’ve been in MMA, which I agree, but why not just beat up a YouTuber for a f****** ton of money?” [Transcript courtesy of MMA Fighting]
KSI and Dillon Danis are booked for a match for January 14 on MF & DAZN: X Series 004. This boxing match is booked for Wembley Arena, which has a 12,500 person capacity. Wembley Arena has also hosted The Masked Singer and multiple Bellator events.
See the full episode below:
