Scott Coker has put the ball firmly in Dillon Danis’ court.
Danis pulled out recently of a highly-publicized boxing match with social media superstar KSI. The bout was due to be held at Wembley Arena, London. This leaves his future as a fighter in doubt. But Coker, who previously said he didn’t get in the way of Danis’ desire to box, is open to Danis resuming his career with Bellator if that’s what the controversial combat sports personality wants to do.
“We offered him to fight in London on the show coming up, and I guess [his team] accepted [a fight with KSI], and they made a deal and we basically said, ‘OK,'” Coker said on The MMA Hour. “So when this thing fell apart, I was really surprised.
“He reached out to me, saying, “Hey, we want to fight.” We’ll try to get him into the rotation but it has been long. He hasn’t fought in a while so it is a good idea to keep him busy. But ultimately, it will be up to him to decide if he would like to fight again and if he truly wants to compete at this level. It’s going to be something that only he can answer.”
When Danis made his Bellator debut in 2018, he did so with plenty of hype behind him due to his association with Conor McGregor, his competitive jiu-jitsu experience, and a brash persona that echoed McGregor. He won his first two pro MMA fights via first-round submission, but has not fought since June 2019.
According to Coker Danis remains officially part of Bellator’s roster. His return will be contingent upon whether or not Danis wants to fight again.
“We have a contract with the guy, and we’re going to honor the contract,” Coker said. It’ll be, as I stated, ‘Does he want to fight’? That is the real question. This is the real question.
” If you are looking to take on the world, you should come back here. Let’s take a test and see what happens .”
Asked point-blank if he expects Danis to fight for Bellator again, Coker left the answer open-ended.
“TBD,” Coker said. To be determined .”
Source: https://www.mmafighting.com/2023/1/13/23550602/scott-coker-welcomes-dillon-danis-back-bellator-wonders-does-he-really-want-to-compete-at-this-level?rand=96749
