Phil Davis stops by the show to talk about his upcoming fight against Glover Teixeira at UFC 179, and addresses the departure of his good friend Alexander Gustafsson from Alliance MMA, as well as The Mauler not getting the next title shot against Jon Jones. “Mr Wonderful also talks about his game plan for Glover, his thoughts on fighting in Brazil, the solution to Jon Jones’ eye pokes, the DC/Cormier Brawl, his fight against Anthony Rumble Johnson and what he learned, as well as what’s in that Backpack that he always wears.
Interview highlights below
Thoughts on Glover match up
“I think it’s a great match up. He’s obviously Brazilian, the fans seem really like me down in Brazil after I’m done fighting. So you know, it should work out well. Another trip down to Brazil, another chance to have an awesome performance down there. The fans down there are absolutely fanatical about MMA so I’m just excited about the match up, the venue, the fight, (being in the) co-main, everything. Should be a great opportunity to put myself back in the title hunt.”
If Phil has any concerns about fighting in Brazil
“Do I worry about the judges? Absolutely I worry about the judges. Is it gonna be a fair fight? No it’s not going to be a fair fight. Do I expect it to be, you know uneven? Absolutely. But, you known at some point I gotta give these guys a little bit of credit because they come over to America and they fight, and you very seldom hear them complain”
“Now having said that, yeah there’s a little bit of a home field advantage and I acknowledge that, but at the same time I’m ready to scrap.”
Thoughts on if Alexander deserves to keep his title shot or does DC deserve it?
“Here’s what it comes down to, it comes down to what makes the most sense. And unfortunately my boy Alex got hurt when he was preparing for his title shot, and I truthfully believe he was gonna win the belt. So does that suck? Absolutely that sucks. He was about to be champion of the world. My boy was about to be champion of the world. So obviously I’m upset about that, but at the same time Daniel Cormier gets matched it up when he gets injured and then Jon Jones becomes injured. You know on one hand I do think it should go back to Alex, and on the other hand I do agree that Jones should stay matched up with Daniel Cormier. And truthfully I don’t really know what I would do had I been in that position, had it been my call, but I can honestly say it’s not my call and I don’t care who fights him first.”
Game plan for Glover
“I’m definitely going to have to get some range going and after that my wrestling, use my strikes to put him in hot water and make him make some tough decisions.”
Thoughts on Jones unorthodox techniques
“I can’t mock him on how great he is, because he is that great. The only issues I have, is the eye poke. That’s for sure an issue with me, and then of course, I’m not sure if going for the knees all the time – because he goes for the knees so dam much. Side kick to the knee all the time. – I don’t know if that’s such good sportsmanship. I guess it’s legal, so he’s within the rules, but I wish they would outlaw that too, because he does, he’s so good at it now that one good-placed shot at one point is gonna end a fighters career.”
” like I said, he’s a great fighter. Daniel’s advantages I believe are gonna be in the clinch, on the ground. Jones’ ability, I think on top Jones is gonna have the advantages and I think standing Jones is gonna have the advantages. But I don’t think it’s gonna be as easy he thinks it is, because Daniel is very tricky, you know. So you may be shocked to see that he’s not doing as well as he thinks he’s doing in the stand up with Daniel. Daniel ain’t no joke.”
On what Phil learned from his fight with Anthony Johnston
“Well I’ll tell you what I took away, I can definitely take a punch and not complain about it. I learnt that. I learned Rumble Johnston hit’s hard. I know that. That’s two facts. Put that down, that is a fact! So you know there’s a lot I can take out of that. A) I wasn’t performing at my absolute best. I knew that going in, but what do you do I’m a competitor. I will never back away from a fight, it’s just not what I do. I don’t know how to do that. I don’t know how to quit. So I have to be smart with my preparation, employ a different game plan against Glover Teixeira and really make sure I take the fight to him and not get caught on my heels.”
If Phil took anything from the Glover vs Jones fight for his fight with Glover
“Honestly I’ve only seen a little bit of his fight with Jon Jones. I was actually not watching that fight, if you can believe that. I was not happy at the time when he was busy fighting Jon Jones. So I definitely will use that fight in preparation for my next fight and we’ll see what I come up with.”
On why Daniel Cormier is so effective at getting under the skin of Jon Jones
“That is what DC does, he’s just a natural born antagonist. He just has it in his blood, he can’t help it. If you’re in the gym with him he’s just a guy that will tease you, and if you know him you’ll have fun, if you don’t know him you won’t have fun. So that’s why, cause he’s good at it. And it’s probably even worse and intensified because he may have some strings of merit to some of the things he says.”
On the press conference stare down
“Well if I were DC I would have probably done exactly what he did. You know a lot of guys try to be a little bit too extra. You know it’s one thing to give me a hard stare down or attempt to intimidate me, but I mean if he was trying to head-butt him, well you gotta get him out your face.”
Thoughts on Jon Jones eye pokes
“How serious are the eye pokes? The eye pokes are probably not that serious, but an eye poke and a straight right hand, that’s actually quite serious. You know listen, it’s not something that happens every once in a while, it happens quite often for some guys.”
“I’m starting to get the feeling that he’s not getting the pressure to make sure it doesn’t happen again. So maybe someone needs to take a point. And a lot of times referees are scared to take a point in a title fight and it’s not even like, it’s the principle. The referees have so much pressure on their job as it is. It’s not an easy job, you know. There’s two guys out there fighting with a lot of pressure on them, and then there’s a referee who’s fighting against two guys with a lot of pressure on them. I get it, but at the same I’m still gonna go in there and win and I still need that referee to make the correct call. So if you’re poking people in the eye multiple times in a fight, well listen, you gotta make a call.”
“When I fought down in Brazil I made it perfectly clear to the referee prior to going in the octagon – I made it perfectly clear – I said listen, ok this is the thing, people know that I wrestle, I’m you going to take you down. You can’t help that, that’s what I do. People are gonna grab the fence, what are you gonna do when they grab the fence? He said ‘Phil, if it stops a takedown I will take a point immediately. If it doesn’t stop a takedown I won’t take a point.’ Now already that rule is horrible, because I have to not get a takedown in order for you to take a point? That’s a lot of energy I just wasted. But anyway, my point is sure enough in that fight against Wagner Prado, I took him down three or four times, and in the sequence of one takedown he grabbed the fence a total of ten times. And the referee told him to stop grabbing the fence ten times including three slaps on the hand. At what point do you say ‘this guy’s not going to listen’, you know? Again when it gets back to the eye pokes, something needs to be done. They need to warn him before he goes out ‘listen, people complain about your eye pokes. If you poke someone in the eye and it looks inadvertent we’ll let it go ONE time. Second time, inadvertent or not, we’re taking a point. And I think he’ll pay a little more attention after that.”
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