In his last outing at UFC 172, things didn’t go according to plan for Phil Davis.
Tabbed as a 2-to-1 favourite heading into his fight with Anthony Johnson, the Alliance MMA pupil was dominated for three rounds in an upset loss. For his next fight, rather than matching up with a low ranked opponent, Davis faces off against the man who just fought for the 205-pound title, Glover Teixeira. This light-heavyweight affair serves as the co-main event for UFC 179 Saturday in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
When Jon Jones became champion–at UFC 128 in March of 2011–Davis won his ninth straight fight just a few weeks later, keeping his perfect record intact. During that period, Davis, much like Jones, was seen as the future of the 205-pound division. He boasted wins over Alexander Gustafsson, Tim Boetsch and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, which was an impressive resume considering Davis had just four pro fights prior to joining the UFC in 2010. Despite injuries hindering his time in the cage, Davis’ next fight was a title eliminator against Jones’ former teammate Rashad Evans. Rather than proving his legitimacy as a top contender, Davis fell flat and was outworked by the former champion for three rounds, suffering his first career loss.
Despite the setback, Davis would rack up two straight wins following a no contest with Wagner Prado, which set up a fight with another former champion, Lyoto Machida, at UFC 163. In what many pundits considered one of the most controversial decisions of 2013, Davis earned a unanimous decision victory over the Brazilian. An even more puzzling result considering the fight took place Brazil where Machida was the fan favourite.
Even with the questionable victory over Machida, the four-time Division 1 All-American wrestler was in a position to potentially fight for the title yet again, as he was paired with Johnson, a former star UFC welterweight that became a standout 205-pounder with World Series of Fighting. A winner of six in a row at the time, Johnson stunned the fans in attendance at UFC 172, outworking Davis with his effective striking and takedown defence. He stole Davis’ spotlight, winning a dominant unanimous decision.
Ahead of Saturday night’s showdown, Davis finds himself on a familiar road to redemption, this time against a much tougher opponent. The 34-year-old Teixeira brings a dangerous arsenal of devastating knockout power and a well-versed ground game. Despite Teixeira coming off a loss, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt has just one blemish on his resume since 2005. With 13 knockouts on his resume, Davis will need to outwrestle his Brazilian foe in order to neutralize his standup. To ensure this, Davis spent part of his training camp at American Kickboxing Academy working specifically with fellow contender Daniel Cormier. Interestingly enough, Davis has never been knocked out or submitted in his 15-fight career, but will certainly be tested in this matchup.
This is arguably the most important fight in Davis’ career. His unappealing style and lack of charisma gives the UFC plenty of reason to release him should he lose his second straight fight. However, an impressive win over a seasoned veteran like Teixeira would erase the memory of his embarrassing loss to “Rumble” back in April. It would also silence those critics who don’t believe Davis is a contender in the division. Conversely for Teixeira, becoming the first man to stop Phil Davis–when Evans and Johnson couldn’t–would make a strong argument that he’s still a title threat in the division.