Anybody who’s been following MMA for the past couple of weeks will likely be discussing the aftermath of the long awaited bout between “The Notorious” Conor McGregor and Khabib “The Eagle” Nurmagomedov. This bitter rivalry hit a new boiling point after Khabib, a UFC world champion, hurled himself over the cage and lunged at McGregor’s Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu coach Dillon Dannis. Dannis, a grappling phenom and Bellator MMA star answered with a quick flurry of punches towards Khabib before the two were separated by security.
Dillon Dannis and Precision Head Coach Brian McLaughlin
A fact that most people are unaware of, is that at one point Dillon, Khabib and Precision head coach Brian McLaughlin all trained together under the same roof at AMA Fight Club in Whippany, NJ. At the time, Khabib was preparing for his UFC debut and Dillon was an up and coming prospect; a teen just getting started at Pro Practices. Coach Brian was instructing at AMA as well as sparring with pros himself. Back then, Dillon was quiet and kept a low profile but would show flashes of the brashness that has become his calling card. Khabib was all business from day one. He would come in with his small army of Russians and each of his training partners would pray that they’d make it out of practice with all of the limbs they came in with.
In the days of AMA Fight Club, Dillon and Khabib were always cordial, but life took them in different directions. Khabib relocated to San Jose, California and Dillon became a prodigy under Marcelo Garcia and eventually caught the eye of Conor McGregor; the biggest star that the sport has ever seen. Although the world sees them as bitter rivals at each other’s throat, the memory remains of them being two hard working martial artists sharing the mat in the quest toward greatness.
If you live in the Hudson Valley area and want to make your MMA dream a reality, learn how to defend yourself and get into the best shape of your life, give us a call at: 845-392-8495. Come check out Precision Boxing and MMA, the Hudson Valley’s premier mixed martial arts academy precisionmixedmartialarts.com