Kemo
04-01-2017, 05:46 PM
Bellator MMA lightweight Steve Kozola improved to a perfect 8-0 Friday night at Bellator 175 in Chicago. Following his quick (just 28 seconds) knockout of Jake Roberts, he would call out Dillon Danis, earning a middle finger from the jiu-jitsu expert who was sitting cage side. Danis, recently signed by Bellator, is best known in the MMA world as the Jiu Jitsu coach of UFC two-division champ Conor McGregor. While 0-0 in MMA, he’s won multiple IBJJF events.
Kozola spent his time post-fight in the cage talking about the need to be authentic, and when it comes to Danis, he didn’t stop there. At the post-fight press conference following the event, Kozola expanded on how he sees Danis as a copy-cat, while McGregor is pretty much the real deal.
Speaking to the assembled press, Kozola stated
"Conor is authentic for who he is. He’s been like that since the beginning of his career. I followed Dillion before he became Conor McGregor’s coach. I never saw this from him."
So just how does Danis differ? Well, he’s just following McGregor’s act, according to Kozola.
" You don’t make much off BJJ, but be your authentic self. That’s how you go forward – it’s being true to who you are. He is a Marcelo Garcia blackbelt. Marcelo Garcia is the nicest guy in Jiu Jitsu. There’s no way you get a black belt from him with that type of attitude. There’s just no way. So at some point he thought he was going to increase his stock, increase his popularity, which is true, through this manner. But that’s not how you get far in the long run. He got what he wanted, he’s in a major promotion, he’s doing MMA, he’s going to try to say he’s making his big bucks, but the thing is he’s going to walk into an authentic fighter, someone like myself if he comes down to 155, or if he goes to 170 he’s eventually going to run into my teammate Fernando Gonzalez…
Be true to who you are. He’s a great martial artist. He’s a great jiu-jitsu practitioner. Carry that with you. Build that. You’re not going to be the best copy-cat. You need to be authentic and be you, be original. Don’t be a copy-cat."
Should Danis decide to drop down to lightweight, Kozola was clear on what would happen were they to square off: “I’m going to knock him out.” That said, with three finishes in Bellator and an unblemished career, Kozola has likely earned a step up in competition. Which means this bout might not happen in the short term — though down the line, it’s certainly a fight that could sell.
Kozola spent his time post-fight in the cage talking about the need to be authentic, and when it comes to Danis, he didn’t stop there. At the post-fight press conference following the event, Kozola expanded on how he sees Danis as a copy-cat, while McGregor is pretty much the real deal.
Speaking to the assembled press, Kozola stated
"Conor is authentic for who he is. He’s been like that since the beginning of his career. I followed Dillion before he became Conor McGregor’s coach. I never saw this from him."
So just how does Danis differ? Well, he’s just following McGregor’s act, according to Kozola.
" You don’t make much off BJJ, but be your authentic self. That’s how you go forward – it’s being true to who you are. He is a Marcelo Garcia blackbelt. Marcelo Garcia is the nicest guy in Jiu Jitsu. There’s no way you get a black belt from him with that type of attitude. There’s just no way. So at some point he thought he was going to increase his stock, increase his popularity, which is true, through this manner. But that’s not how you get far in the long run. He got what he wanted, he’s in a major promotion, he’s doing MMA, he’s going to try to say he’s making his big bucks, but the thing is he’s going to walk into an authentic fighter, someone like myself if he comes down to 155, or if he goes to 170 he’s eventually going to run into my teammate Fernando Gonzalez…
Be true to who you are. He’s a great martial artist. He’s a great jiu-jitsu practitioner. Carry that with you. Build that. You’re not going to be the best copy-cat. You need to be authentic and be you, be original. Don’t be a copy-cat."
Should Danis decide to drop down to lightweight, Kozola was clear on what would happen were they to square off: “I’m going to knock him out.” That said, with three finishes in Bellator and an unblemished career, Kozola has likely earned a step up in competition. Which means this bout might not happen in the short term — though down the line, it’s certainly a fight that could sell.