Man, we NEED a proper grappling expert in the top team!

Danilo’s BJJ pedigree? Sounds like one of those lads who shreds purple belts in Osaka dojos but folds to a stiff cross once the cage lights hit. Source on that Rizin whisper?

Generoso? FINALLY someone who gets it! Picture this: the cage lights up, he’s slippery like an eel, wraps that neck like it’s a Sunday afternoon 🔥 we’re lookin at instant fight of the year material every time out

Danilo's got that smooth backstep and guillotine setup on lock, true, but let’s not kid ourselves—he’s already pushing 33 and never really dug his claws into elite-level competition outside Japan. Rizin’s stacked with journeymen past their prime and all the BJJ trophy hunters who never had to deal with the kind of pressure that separates the wheat from the chaff. The man hasn’t been in a five-round war against a striker who mixes it up; his finishes read like highlight-reel moments against grapplers who froze when the cage doors slammed. Even if he lands that gig, it’d be a one-fight audition, then we’d see another refugee selling tickets in Europe while Oliveira’s still slicing throats at 145 lbs. The league doesn’t hand out contracts on BJJ resumes alone—it wants proof that you can eat leather gloves for fifteen minutes and still work the neck.

Had a mate in Gateshead who trained with Generoso’s old gym back in 2019—claimed the guy could tap out anyone on the mats but’d get caught cold in sparring when someone just started swinging. Seen him myself once, late-night open mat in Newcastle; he tapped three purple belts in a row, then got popped by a white belt throwing an accidental elbow to the head mid-scramble. Makes you wonder how he’s gonna handle a lightweight who actually brings damage while he’s hunting the choke.

Look, i walked past that dodgy dojo in Shieldfield where Danilo was teaching half a dozen bouncers once, and if his guillotines were as silky as his come-ons off the mats i reckon we’d have a proper finisher right there 🔥 They’d still be selling him short though, nah mate—think further than just the choke hold cos every night he’s out there scrapping with scousers and geordie lads who treat the ground like it’s a pub brawl gone wrong 💪

That last story about the Newcastle open mat though—where’s the gas left when you’re stacking purple belts like cordwood but eat an elbow off a white belt? That’s not a guy who can get the promotion letter from Dana, that’s a hobbyist who got lucky with training partners. And let’s be real: we’re not shopping for another submariner who gets starstruck when the ref calls the round—we need the dude who makes the ref call the fight because nobody’s breathing. If Generoso hasn’t eaten leather in a sanctioned five-rounder, his résumé is a nicely stitched collar bomb waiting to go off the second Khabib junior walks in with a professional jab and no fear of the pillow.

You ever watched a guy like Damir Ismagulov work? That lad isn’t just stacking purple belts—he’s dragging them through twelve minutes of the most brutal five-rounders you’ve ever seen against dudes who punch harder than your gym’s heavy bag. Danilo’s got the finishes, sure, but did you forget what a five-round war looks like? These are the lads who come in for three months, gas themselves on HIIT, then spend the next six weeks picking glass out of their palms because some eastern european journeyman taught them where the liver lives. We’re not buying raffle tickets here—this is the bloody championship contender pool.

Told ya that dodgy dojo in Shieldfield was just a front for Geordie lads learning how to armbar each other between pints of lambrini! 🍻🤡 Seen Danilo in action there once when he rolled with some cage rat from Sunderland who turned up thinking mma was just fancy wrestling—ended up tapping to a kneebar before the bell even rang. The lad’s slick as hell, but yeah, when the punches start flying and the ref starts shouting, does he still look like he’s out for a weekend roll in the park? Genuine question—can that neck-hunting magic survive twelve rounds with a Muay Thai burner who treats BJJ like an afterthought?

Danilo’s got the game, no doubt, but let’s be real—if the plan is to plug him straight into Oliveira’s spot without him ever having danced more than a five-minute dance with a striker who can crack a coconut with his elbow, you might as well just hand the belt to the next random bloke off the street and tell him good luck. I remember watching Generoso’s purple belt night in Gateshead back in ’18—bloke tapped half the room with arm triangles, then one random bouncer walked in, threw a right hand that sounded like a fridge door slamming, and the triangle became a crumpled napkin before the first minute was up.

remember when they were all saying kevin aguilar was gonna walk through the division cos he had a rear naked that made old ladies in buenos aires weep? ended up getting a right hand that sounded like a telephone book hitting the deck from some journeyman in panama—guy’s now coaching kids in doncaster. or what about that rumour with diogo rosa? "machine-like guard retention", they called him, until he met a southpaw who boxed like he was trying to knock down a brick wall and suddenly his "unkillable guard" looked like a deckchair in a hurricane. time will tell? nah, time just laughs while we remember the promises that got choked out before the first bell even rang 😄