When Logan Paul’s opponent Dillon Danis gave Alex ‘Poatan’ Pereira a run for his money in intense sparring session
YouTuber megastar and cruiserweight pugilist Logan Paul is scheduled to return to the boxing ring against Dillon Danis next. Danis has taken to Twitter to reveal that he'll be making his boxing debut against Paul on the upcoming MF & DAZN: X Series – The Prime Card at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England, on October 14, 2023.
The boxing card will feature a double main event, as YouTuber-turned-boxer KSI will fight rising boxing star Tommy Fury, whereas the other headlining bout will see Logan Paul face Dillon Danis. A few months ago, Danis notably set the combat sports community abuzz with his impressive showing against former UFC middleweight champion Alex Pereira in their sparring session.
The sparring session transpired while Pereira was in training camp to prepare for his UFC light heavyweight divisional debut against former UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz. Pereira would go on to defeat Blachowicz at UFC 291 in July 2023.
The intense sparring session between Danis and Pereira appeared to be a grappling-centric one, with a few distance-gauging strikes thrown in to seemingly mix things up. Danis, a veteran BJJ savant, secured multiple takedowns against the much bigger 'Poatan.'
Nevertheless, Brazilian kickboxing veteran Pereira, for his part, held his own in the grappling department against the grappling wizard Danis. In fact, Pereira even took the jiu-jitsu savant's back at one point during their session. To his credit, 'El Jefe' managed to eventually out-grapple his heavier sparring partner and secure top position.
Check out highlights from the Danis-Pereira sparring session below:
What's next for Dillon Danis and Alex Pereira?
29-year-old Dillon Danis' last professional combat sports contest witnessed him defeat Max Humphrey via first-round submission at Bellator 222 in June 2019. 'El Jefe' is best known for serving as UFC megastar Conor McGregor's training partner and helping the Irishman improve his grappling skills. Danis last competed in a submission grappling match back in September 2017.
Dillon Danis subsequently dealt with knee injury issues, owing to which he went on a lengthy hiatus. Nevertheless, Danis is set to finally return to combat sports competition this October in a boxing match against Logan Paul.
Meanwhile, former UFC middleweight champion Alex Pereira is coming off a hard-fought split decision victory over former UFC light heavyweight titleholder Jan Blachowicz last month. Presently, the consensus is that the UFC could book the 36-year-old Pereira to fight former UFC light heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka for the vacant UFC light heavyweight title when Prochazka returns from his injury hiatus.
#TheMMAHour
youtube.com/watch?v=RKjRec… pic.twitter.com/CMcK4J2TF9Jiří Procházka wants his next fight to be against Alex Pereira for the vacant UFC light heavyweight title 🏆 #TheMMAHour
▶️ youtube.com/watch?v=RKjRec… pic.twitter.com/CMcK4J2TF9