The latest in the era of influencer boxing matches is that between ace BJJ practitioner Dillon Danis and YouTuber-turned-boxing personality KSI (Olajide Olayinka Williams “JJ” Olatunji). Their feud dates back a couple of years, and of course, Danis found Olatunji in his crosshairs, given the latter’s journey in pro boxing. The pair were scheduled to meet in January 2023, but Danis pulled out of the bout. Now, they’re scheduled to meet on March 29 at the AO Arena in Manchester.

Having more experience as a boxer, KSI should have this one in the bag. But this is influencer boxing, where anything can happen. Remember KSI’s accidental elbow KO of Joe Fournier? Yeah, it was unintentional, but it happened nonetheless. Furthermore, UFC star Michael ‘Venom’ Page alluded to something that may the English Youtuber’s chances of winning. It’s important to note that KSI trains at the same gym Page trains at, i.e., London Shootfighters.

‘Venom’ said, “He’s in the gym all the time and you only have to look at his style to know where he gets it you know? Where did he get it from? So he’s kind of adopted a lot of guys in my gym since I’ve gone to London shoot fights, they have kind of adopted that footwork style.”

The most obvious feature of MVP’s style is his footwork and movement. Point-based, but powerfully explosive with incredible KO power. He said, “It allows you to fight and compete against people that are a lot more experienced than you in boxing but still compete at a comfortable level just because that darting in and out is difficult to deal with for a boxer.”

As if going against a boxer wasn’t bad enough for Danis, going up against someone who trains with Michael Page is a whole different ball game. We just have to wait and see if KSI will show up to the fight with evoked footwork.

So why is KSI fighting Dillon Danis of all people? Well, the YouTuber explained that Danis was his last option following a host of failed pairings with UFC veterans. Let’s take a look at who KSI had in his crosshairs before his pairing with the controversial BJJ black belt.

KSI busted out on veteran fighters not wanting to box him inside the ring

The British Youtuber reached out to four former UFC stars—Jorge Masvidal, Nate Diaz, Donald Cerrone, and Tony Ferguson—- but none of them agreed to fight him. “Dillon Danis wasn’t even my fourth choice. We went to Nate Diaz- he said no. We went to Donald Cerrone- he said no. We went to Tony Ferguson- he said no. These guys said no to me… Even [Jorge] Masvidal, we went to Masvidal for a fight, he can’t do it because the UFC like [still has him under contract],” KSI complained in a recent video.

This rejection did not sit well with the YouTuber and celebrity boxer. He claimed that these fighters were too scared to step into the ring with him. However, Masvidal could not fight him due to contract problems. Diaz, as we know, has already fought Jake Paul, who might be way more dangerous as a boxer than KSI. Olatunji might be shooting blanks in the dark because let’s face it—Paul has fought and defeated much more dangerous competition than KSI.

And to add salt to an open wound, ‘Gamebred’ Masvidal issued a scathing attack on KSI in an Instagram post. This 🧢 😂 do what it is with you UK mother f**ers but stick to selling that pi* in a bottle because I will beat your f**ing a* @ksi,” Masvidal wrote.

Regardless, what do you think of the fight between KSI and Dillon Danis? Do you think KSI’s ‘cheat code’ will help him dismantle his BJJ opponent? Let us know in the comments down below.