Thanks to Chad Dubin at Lionheart Fighters, I was able to interview the UFC‘s newest lightheavyweight, Phil Davis.
Q: Phil, first of all, congratulations on signing with the UFC. What have the last few days been like for you?
PD: The last few days have been cool a little stressful but cool. I’m at home with my family and I try not to be all about my work at home.
It seems like for the last six months or so, you’ve had a couple fights lined up that fell through. How frustrating has it been not being able to showcase while you were waiting for the call?
Its frustrating thinking you have a fight and training, then dealing with the disappointment of not having a date makes you not want to train as hard but I can do it because I don’t really know the game that well and its almost what I’ve expected up until now.
Your four pro matches have been pretty one sided. Only the Brett Chism fight got out of the first round, and you were pretty dominant in that fight. With the caliber of talent in the UFC’s 205, are you going to be making any changes to your gameplan?
Ummmm… The game plan was only to win. I don’t see that game plan changing anytime soon.
You have an unbelievable grappling pedigree. 4 time NCAA All-American wrestler, and you just won the ’09 No Gi World Championships. But the sexier fights are the stand up battles. How do you balance standing in the pocket and trading hands with taking the fight to the ground to earn the win?
I don’t quite know the answer to that I just make stuff up on the fly and do what my coaches say do.
Lets go back to the beginning for fight fans that don’t know Phil Davis yet. You were a 4 time All-American for PennState, then stayed in Happy Valley and joined the Lionheart Fighters fight team. What drew you from wrestling to MMA?
I love to compete in anything. I’ll do anything that looks like a challenge.
How’d you end up with the nickname Mr. Wonderful?
The same way Superman ended up with the name Super… Someone recongnized my attributes and decided to name me accordingly. Simply put.
Where are you training now?
I have moved to San Diego and been training at Alliance Training Center.
Have you heard what your first fight’s going to be?
No, but I am excited to find out.
Now, I saw an interview where you gave Brian Boitano a shout out. Said something about maybe wanting fans to throw roses at you after a fight. Should we try to put something together for you for your next fight?
This is a question that deserves a one word answer…PLEASE!
This last question is usually an open mic. So send a shout out to whoever you need to mention, and throw anything else out that we should know.
I just want to thanks all my sponsors and everyone who supported me while I needed the help.
There it is. 4-0 as a professional, and the newest fighter in the UFC’s 205 division. Phil Davis will be making waves in the Octagon in 2010. And he doesn’t want your accolades, he wants your long stem roses. Make it happen, MMA fans. Make it happen.
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