Dillon Danis has made the jump to mixed martial arts, signing with Bellator MMA, it has been revealed today.

The elite submission artist has been looking to make the move from competitive jiu-jitsu into mixed martial arts for a while, after having trained with UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor and the rest of the SBG team on multiple occasions.

It also signifies one of the biggest named free agents in mixed martial arts being signed by Bellator, something that represents a mood of intent.

“Look, when we were building Strikeforce, we signed guys like Daniel Cormier, Tyron Woodley, Ronda [Rousey], Luke Rockhold, people like that, and they all developed into stars and pretty good fighters, I’d say,” Bellator president Scott Coker said, speaking with Yahoo Sports. “I want to use that old Strikeforce philosophy with Bellator: Buying the best free agents and building from the top down and signing these young guys who excel in one discipline of the martial arts, whether it is wrestling or jiu-jitsu, taekwondo or traditional karate, and then building from the bottom up.

“A guy like Dillon, with such high-level jiu-jitsu, whenever a fight goes to the ground, he’s going to be a serious threat. He’s going to have to master the stand-up game and everything else, but what I’ve found over the years is that when you take a guy like this, who has competed all over the world in big events, they’re calm and relaxed and they’ll develop if you push them along and nurture them the right way.”

While Danis has yet to receive an official opponent or debut date, he believes he’ll step foot in the cage for the first time by the end of this year.