Dillon Danis is only 1-0 in his MMA career but the outspoken cohort of Conor McGregor is already making waves outside the Bellator cage. Having come into the sport talking a mound of trash about nearly everyone involved, Danis made quick work of his opponent in his MMA debut, locking up a toehold submission in 90 seconds and then taking aim at the rest of the Bellator roster afterwards. His words have caused prominent fighters like Michael Chandler and Al Iaquinta to openly revile him and now he’s also drawn the attention of fellow blue chip prospect, Aaron Pico.

Speaking with FanSided recently, Pico reacted to Danis’ professional debut as well as his cocksure attitude, saying that while Danis is an acclaimed grappler, he hasn’t done anything yet in MMA to warrant his attitude and that the attention Danis gets comes mostly from his association with UFC superstar Conor McGregor.

“I didn’t watch it live but I did see that he got that leg lock,” said Pico of Danis’ performance. “I think that - yeah, he can think what he wants. I think that a lot of the attention that he’s gotten is because he’s on Conor McGregor’s nuts and I think a lot of people will say that I’m right. On the ground, absolutely. I’m sure he’s very, very good. As far as being an overall fighter, we haven’t seen it yet. But hey, I wish him nothing but the best, but a lot of his attention has come from Conor McGregor.”

Pico and Danis are both elite MMA prospects that made their professional MMA debuts under the Bellator banner. Pico is an accomplished amateur wrestler who narrowly missed out on making the United States Olympic team last cycle and was also a junior Golden Gloves national champion in 2009. Danis is one of the best grapplers on the planet, having won multiple world championships at the brown-belt level. But while Danis was triumphant in his debut, Pico came up short, tapping out to veteran fighter Zach Freeman in just 24 seconds last fall. Since then, Pico has rattled off two impressive knockout wins over legitimate competition, and that, he says, is the biggest difference between Danis and himself.

“Like I said, he can think what he thinks but when but when he gets into some big fights, we’ll have to see,” said Pico. “He fought a guy that’s 2-4. Fight a guy with a winning record and we’ll see. Put your money where your mouth is. Me? I fight guys with winning records, guys that are older than me, tougher challenges. When he fights guys with winning records, then we can have that discussion. Other than that, he can’t even be mentioned in the same sentence as me.”

Danis’ victim at Bellator 198 was Kyle Walker, a 2-4 fighter who had been submitted twice before. Conversely, Freeman was 8-2 when he defeated Pico and Pico’s two wins have come against opposition with a combined 19-6 record. That being said, it doesn’t appear that Danis cares much about the “quality of competition” part of his resume right now, or at least he doesn’t want a fellow prospect using that as a reason to take shots at him as yesterday, Danis took to Twitter to respond to Pico’s statement, and throwing Pico’s submission loss to Freeman back in the young fighter’s face.

Since Danis is likely to continue his MMA career as a welterweight, and Pico is currently competing at featherweight, the two prospects are unlikely to stand across from one another inside the cage but Pico currently has other things to worry about. Pico is set to fight Lee Morrison next weekend at Bellator 199.

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MUST-READ STORIES

Fight. Leslie Smith files charge against UFC with National Labor Relations Board.

Ego. Frank Mir says ‘ego’ at fault for loss to Fedor Emelianenko, hopes to fight in ACB next.

New Deal. Eddie Alvarez: ‘I’m not fighting until I get a new deal.’

Out. Mackenzie Dern says she has left MMA Lab, ‘definitely’ won’t be going back to Arizona.

Fast. Edson Barboza isn’t taking any time off following loss to Kevin Lee, wants quick return.

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VIDEO STEW

Max speaking to UFC Tonight.

Brian Kelleher interview.

Fan made hype trailer for the biggest fight ever.

And a promo for maybe the best fight on the books right now.

And a Rizin promo for good measure.

Kelvin with some serious fight analysis.

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LISTEN UP

Heavy Hands. Discussing the greatness of Fedor Emelianenko.

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SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

Calling Eddie, Edward totally gonna make that fight happen.

The real Al retweeted this.

He’s right . . . they need to go to Conor McGregor.

Beef.

KSW wants Big Rigg.

Trying to get in the game.

Rafael Lovato Jr. is a great guy and a pretty good fighter too boot.

USADA.

He’s back.

Jon Jones getting swoll.

Ideas.

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FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Andres Quintana (13-2) vs. Marco Antonio Elpidio (7-2-1); Combate Americas, May 18.

Rodrigo Vargas (9-2) vs. Mike De La Torre (14-8, 1 NC); Combate Americas, May 18.

Christian Quiñonez (10-2) vs. Vinicius De Oliveira Prestes De Matos (9-0); Combate Americas, May 18.

Eduardo Torres (9-0) vs. Kevin Amador (9-8); Combate Americas, May 18.

Vanesa Rico (3-3) vs. Yajaira Romo (3-3); Combate Americas, May 18.

Alex Velasco (7-1) vs. Daniel Rodriguez (5-1); Combate Americas, May 18.

Jair Perez (0-0) vs. Jesus Blanco (0-1); Combate Americas, May 18.

Edgar Chairez (3-0) vs. Alan Cantu (7-3); Combate Americas, May 18.

Luiz Firmino (20-8) vs. Will Brooks (18-4); PFL 2, June 21.

Rashid Magomedov (22-2) vs. Jason High (21-6); PFL 2, June 21.

Rashid Yusupov (8-0) vs. Rakim Cleveland (18-9-1); PFL 2, June 21.

Kayla Harrison (0-0) vs. Brittney Elkin (3-4); PFL 2, June 21.

Brian Foster (27-10) vs. Ramsey Nijem (9-6); PFL 2, June 21.

Ronny Markes (17-5) vs. Sean O’Connell (17-9); PFL 2, June 21.

Smealinho Rama (10-3) vs. Brandon Halsey (10-3); PFL 2, June 21.

Islam Mamedov (14-1) vs. Yuki Kawana (14-1-5); PFL 2, June 21.

Maxim Grishin (25-7) vs. Jason Butcher (11-2); PFL 2, June 21.

Thiago Tavares (21-7-1) vs. Robert Watley (10-1); PFL 2, June 21.

Chris Wade (12-3) vs. Natan Schulte (11-3); PFL 2, June 21.

Dan Spohn (16-5) vs. Bazigit Ataev (17-1); PFL 2, June 21.

Vinny Magalhaes (14-8) vs. Jamie Abdallah (7-2); PFL 2, June 21.

Joanna Jedrzejczyk (14-2) vs. Tecia Torres (10-2); UFC on FOX 30, July 28.

Derek Brunson (18-6) vs. Antonio Carlos Junior (10-2, 1 NC): UFC 227, Aug. 4.

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TODAY IN MMA HISTORY

1991: Kenji Kawaguchi became the inaugural Shooto middleweight champion when he kneebarred Manubu Yamada.

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FINAL THOUGHTS

Just an FYI, Lee Morrison - Pico’s next opponent - is currently on a four-fight win streak. The records of those four fighters? 2-8, 6-31, 7-7, and 0-10. And not one of those fights came in Xplode. Regional MMA is incredible.

Take it easy everyone and see y’all tomorrow.

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EXIT POLL

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