Steve Kozola Discusses His Issues With Dillon Danis

Speaking at a post-fight scrum with reporters (via MMAjunkie), MMA fighter Steve Kozola explained his callout of Dillon Danis after his win over Jake Roberts at Bellator 175. Kozola believes Danis is a copycat of Conor McGregor and Danis is not being authentic. Below are some highlights from the scrum.

Kozola on McGregor being authentic: “Conor is authentic for who he is – he’s been like that since the beginning of his career. I followed Dillon before he became Conor McGregor’s (jiu-jitsu) coach. I never saw this from him – never saw this ‘Look at my fashion, look at this money,’ everything like that. First of all, you don’t even have money. Whatever money you have, Conor’s giving to you, all right, for training him. You don’t make much off BJJ. But be your authentic self. That’s how you go far, is being true to who you are – being true to the martial arts. He is a Marcelo Garcia black belt. Marcelo Garcia is the nicest guy in Brazilian jiu-jitsu in the world. There’s no way that you get a black belt from him with that type of attitude. There’s just no way.”

Kozola’s issue with Danis: “At some point, he thought that he was going to increase his stock, increase his popularity, which is true, through this manner. But that’s not how you’re going to get far in the long (run). He got what he wanted: Now 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, who will do just as bad, if not worse to him, than I will. That’s not how you’re going to make it. 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 copycat. You need to be authentic and be original. Don’t be a copycat.”