Dillon Danis and Luke Rockhold break silence after bloody backstage brawl

Dillon Danis and Luke Rockhold have both broken their silence after the pair were involved in a heated backstage brawl - which left the former UFC middleweight champion bleeding from his back.

The pair of fighters came to blows during the weigh-ins for their respective bouts on tomorrow night's Misfits 22 card when tensions boiled over. Images circulating on social media revealed Danis attempting to seize Rockhold around the throat whilst security personnel scrambled to separate the warring duo, with another snap displaying a nasty cut across Rockhold's back.

The ex-UFC middleweight champion is set to square off against Darren Till in tomorrow night's headline bout in Manchester, whilst Danis will face Warren Spencer in an MMA clash. The pair have since responded to their scuffle - which has gone viral on social media.

"Luke Rockhold learned to never mess with a gangster," said Danis. The former Bellator star also seemingly took a swipe at UFC legend Daniel Cormier after replying to an account that reported his altercation with Rockhold. "DC's fat a** is next," wrote Danis. In a post uploaded to X - formerly known as Twitter - Rockhold also commented on the brawl. The 40-year-old quote-tweeted a video of his verbal spat with Danis yesterday, writing: "Ask @dillondanis how his face feels?"

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Rockhold also had a heated exchange with Till during the official weigh-ins, with all competitors on the card scheduled to weigh in once more before the public later on Friday, reports All Out Fighting. Danis had tried to provoke Rockhold during Thursday's press conference, but it was Till who took aim at his rival, attempting to persuade him to extend their bout from six to eight rounds.

After Rockhold suggested Till has been taking drugs, the Brit fired back: "If I'm a cokehead, why won't you do eight rounds? If I'm a cokehead, why wouldn't you accept eight rounds and said you'd only fight me over six, let's make this eight rounds. This fight is now eight rounds or I won't be fighting. You are not ready, you are not ready."

Rockhold, who previously held the world title in the UFC before surrendering it to Michael Bisping, took a dig at Till's nearly-there status. "He's a former title challenger because every time he gets to the top he gets put down," he said. Till took the jibe in stride before reasserting his demands. "That's fair dos," he said. "So let's do eight rounds, you f***ing muppet. You said you would pull out the fight - you didn't even want more money - if it was eight rounds. Eight rounds, come on, if you're man, eight rounds. You're a s***house, you're a muppet."

Also stepping into the ring on Saturday night, former UFC interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson will face off against influencer Salt Papi, while reality TV personalities Joey Essex and Demi Sims are set to make their boxing debuts.

In other news, Misfits heavyweight champion Chase DeMoor seems to have withdrawn from his bout with challenger Natan Marcon. After Marcon lobbed an egg at DeMoor during their face-off, the champion immediately declared he would back out of the fight unless he received an apology or a larger purse. And on Friday, he shared a video of himself seemingly about to board a flight to Barcelona.

When is Misfits 22?

Misfits 22 will take place at Manchester's AO Arena on Saturday, August 30. The main undercard is due to get underway at around 7pm UK time (2pm ET / 1pm CT / 11am PT).

In the main event, Luke Rockhold is likely to make his entrance first at approximately 11pm UK time (6pm ET / 5pm CT / 4pm PT), with Darren Till following shortly after. The two stars are then set to touch gloves just after 11.20pm UK time before the first bell rings. The fight shouldn't start later than this but could be moved forward if the undercard fights finish earlier than expected.