Davis Looks To Add To Wonderful UFC Run With Title Shot

A former NCAA National Champion wrestler, and four-time All-American, Phil “Mr. Wonderful” Davis has another big wrestling match ahead of him, and this time its for the right to challenge for another kind of championship.
A UFC Championship belt, it’s the dream of every fighter that puts on those four-ounce gloves. With a win over Rashad Evans at UFC on FX 2 this weekend, Davis could have the chance to do what no other has done before him: claim Jon Jones’s UFC Light Heavyweight title belt as his own.
That would be quite a step up in competition for a man who only has nine fights under his belt, all of which he has won. He began his professional career with four-straight wins on the east coast, near his home state of Pennsylvania. After finishing three of his four opponents, the UFC began to take interest in the young star.
The UFC had big things in mind for Davis the second they signed him. They certainly didn’t waste any time in building up this young star, but rather threw him to the wolves, hoping he would survive. His first fight in the UFC was against former WEC Light Heavyweight Champion, and Silver Star recipient, Brian Stann. It was Stann’s last fight at 185 pounds, as Davis was able to control Stann on the ground, whilst landing solid combos and looking for the submission.
He showed a lot of promise in his initial fight under the UFC banner. He scored three takedowns, and was able to transition at will. He almost locked up a kimura and an arm-triangle late in the second, adding to the buzz already surrounding his ground game.
Davis’s ground game was next on display versus fellow rising prospect, Alexander Gustafsson. Mr. Wonderful only scored one takedown in the fight, but it was all he needed as he sunk in an anaconda choke late in the first round. If not for Rafael dos Anjos’s spectacular armbar submission over Terry Etim, it might have received Submission of the Night honors.
Davis wouldn’t wait long to claim those honors, and after a lopsided win over Rodney Wallace, Davis put on the performance of his career in Auburn Hills, Michigan against Tim Boetsch at UFC 123. With Boetsch on the cage, and Davis holding him in side control, he trapped Boetsch’s left arm behind his back. From there, he proceeded to lock both of his hands behind Boetsch’s back and crank the arm almost up to the back of his neck. The modified kimura, dubbed the “Wonderbar” was granted Submission of the Night honors, and solidified Davis’s threat to end the fight on the ground.
His next test would come in the form of Brazilian grappler Antônio Rogério Nigeria. After an unsuccessful first round full of failed takedown attempts, and failure to mount any significant offensive attack, Davis showed his versatility in switching to the single-leg takedown in the second round. The first round saw Nogueira stuff five Davis takedowns, but the second told a much different tale. Davis landed two of his three takedowns, and late in the round was able to do some ground and pound.
By the start of the third frame, it was anyone’s guess as to who was going to win the fight. Davis, using his adapted single-leg, was able to get Nogueira to the ground, and hold him there for the majority of the round. Davis took a unanimous decision over the highly touted Brazilian, and though delayed several months, he now finds himself in a fight to decide the number one contender.
Davis versus Evans is one of the few matches that I feel can be predicted on paper. Look at both of the fighters’ records. Davis, 9-0 and undefeated, Evans, 16-1-1, both quite impressive. Once you take a look at the level of competition each has faced, Evans’s record shines much brighter than Davis’s. With wins over Stephan Bonnar Michael Bisping, Chuck Liddell, Forrest Griffin, Rampage Jackson and Tito Ortiz, Evans has done and seen it all and he is only 32. He has defeated four former champions, one of whom still holds the record as longest reigning champ at light heavyweight. Still, fights cannot be predicted based off of records, so we must delve deeper into their skill sets.
Evans, a former wrestler at Michigan State University faces Davis, a former Penn State wrestling standout. What a match this would have been to see on the college mat. Davis has an NCAA National Championship, and four All-American bids, while Evans has only a Junior College National Championship. One intriguing thing about Evans is that he is one of three people to defeat arguably the best wrestler in college history, Greg Jones on the mat. Phil Davis is not one of those three people. Davis may have the better accolades at the collegiate level, but Evans has shown that he knows how to adapt wrestling to MMA, and has done it better than most in the light heavyweight division.
Davis versus Evans will be won in the trenches. In a high-stakes wrestling match, Davis may be able to pull of a surprise submission, but I’m not confident he will be able to put Evans on his back very easily. A wrestler, who couldn’t take down Little Nog with a double leg, gives me a lot of reason to doubt that he can floor a wrestler like Evans. Davis has yet to face an elite wrestler inside the Octagon, and the final paper factor for Evans, experience will prevail. Evans takes a hard-nosed decision over the young prospect.