Dillon Danis drops degrading comment looking back at Khabib Nurmagomedov's 2014 "fanboy" moment with Conor McGregor

Dillon Danis took a stinging jab at Khabib Nurmagomedov after an old social media interaction between 'The Eagle' and Conor McGregor resurfaced on social media. McGregor and Nurmagomedov were in a fierce rivalry culminating in a lightweight title fight at UFC 229 that the Dagestani fighter won by a fourth-round submission.

However, McGregor and Nurmagomedov did not become rivals until the Irishman moved up to the lightweight division, setting the duo on a collision course. Nurmagomedov was an admirer of McGregor during his rise in the featherweight division.

Recently, ESPN MMA chronicled the evolution of their rivalry in an Instagram post, shedding light on how the pair went from being cordial fellow fighters to bitter rivals.

Check out the post below:

Dannis, a teammate and grappling coach of McGregor, took to the comments section of the post and wrote:

"Fanboy turned [rat emoji]."

Dillon Danis' comment

The famous picture of Nurmagomedov and McGregor was taken after the Irishman's UFC 178 win over Dustin Poirier in September 2014. 'The Eagle' posted the picture on social media and congratulated him for the victory.

Apparel brand Dethrone launched McGregor merchandise at the same time. Nurmagomedov had expressed the desire to purchase the t-shirt, resulting in a cordial social media interaction with the Irishman.

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Dillon Danis' rivalry with Khabib Nurmagomedov is older than Conor McGregor

Dillon Danis shot to fame when he was brought into Conor McGregor's camp to improve the Irishman's grappling after the Nate Diaz loss. He became a close ally of McGregor and played an important role in building the UFC 229 fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov.

However, Danis had his tussle with Nurmagomedov long before McGregor and Nurmagomedov became rivals. In a 2017 interview with Submission Radio, Danis explained the origin of his rivalry with the Dagestani fighter:

“It’s actually a funny story. Me and him had a beef when I was 16/17. He used to come to a place in Jersey where I used to train because his manager was the coach of my gym. He used to wear that stupid shirt that said, ‘If Sambo was easy it would be called jiu-jitsu.’ I said, ‘Ok, let’s do a grappling match then and see how easy jiu-jitsu is.’ Never came to fruition.”

Check out Dillon Danis' comments below (12:45):