BJJ black belt Dillon Danis won his second MMA fight at Bellator 222 against Max Humphrey via submission. Performing at MSG minutes away from his home, Danis backed up weeks of big talk with a very technical performance that failed to see a second round.
Compared to his first fight, Danis came out much more aggressive and controlled with an early takedown attempt and immediate recovery when Humphrey stuffed it. Staying on the feet Danis maintained his distance as Humphrey tried to close the gap with combinations. His second takedown attempt found purchase against the fence, and Danis brought Humphrey deep into the quicksand.
Peppering Humphrey with shots to the face, Danis advanced to back mount and continued his ground and pound. As Humphrey posted up off the floor, Danis attacked the neck with an RNC attempt. A short cycle formed wherein Danis would alternate between threatening Humphrey’s neck with a choke, then reverting to headshots when the choke defense went up.
With just over a minute thirty left in the round, Humphrey posted on all fours in an attempt to shake Danis off his back, but Danis was prepared with control of Humphrey’s left arm. As he fell to his side, Danis transitioned from the back to an armbar attempt against the cage. Forming a grip to defend, Humphrey used his right leg to kick at Danis’ head and escape, but Danis responded with repeated hammer fists to his face. Threading his right leg through Humphrey’s grip, Danis was able to extend the left arm and go belly down to finish the submission at 4:28 of round one.
“I’m the best in the world, I said it before and I’ll say it again,” began Danis in his post fight interview with “Big” John McCarthy. After calling out the likes of John Jones and Rory McDonald, Danis proceeded to explain that the switch from back control to an armbar was due to his opponents supposed desire to stall the fight. “I could just tell he was stalling,” Danis said. “He wanted to make it to three rounds to say he went three rounds with the best ever… so I was like ‘You know what? It’s time to finish this guy.’”
