Dana White bars Dillon Danis from UFC events after brawl with Khabib's team at MSG

Dana White has confirmed that Dillon Danis is banned from all future UFC events, pointing to a brawl at UFC 322 in Madison Square Garden in November 2025 as the incident that ended his access to the promotion.

Danis was escorted out of MSG by security after a fight broke out between him and members of Khabib Nurmagomedov’s team, including Abubakar Nurmagomedov and Magomed Zaynukov. White addressed the ban at the UFC 333 post-fight news conference in Abu Dhabi, dismissing any suggestion that Danis headlining events elsewhere was of concern to him.

“What difference would it make to me?” White said. “It doesn’t make any difference to me. What happens is, in my experience, every time Dillon Danis shows up somewhere, there’s a fight that breaks out. So, after the last one, it’s just — we don’t need that aggravation here.”

The comments came after Danis appeared in the main event of Real American Freestyle 14 in Las Vegas on October 23, competing against UFC lightweight Arman Tsarukyan in a wrestling match. Tsarukyan dominated the contest, winning by technical fall 10-0. Danis was involved in separate altercations both before and after that bout.

White’s remarks make clear that Danis’s continued presence on other combat sports cards has no bearing on the UFC’s position. The ban stems specifically from the chaos at UFC 322, where the brawl disrupted the opening of the pay-per-view broadcast at one of the sport’s most high-profile venues.

Danis, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt and training partner of Conor McGregor, has competed sporadically in combat sports over the years but has attracted as much attention for incidents outside competition as for his performances inside it. White’s statement suggests there is no pathway back to UFC events for him in the foreseeable future.