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After winning his first four UFC fights, Phil Davis (8-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) earned a coveted spot in a main event. It's the first of his brief career – but likely not his last.
The 26-year-old has been on a meteoric rise after a seamless transition from collegiate wrestling star to full-time mixed-martial-arts fighter.
He gets his toughest test to date when he faces veteran Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (19-4 MMA, 2-1 UFC) Saturday at UFC Fight Night 24 in Seattle at KeyArena. The main card, including the Davis vs. Nogueira headliner, airs live on Spike TV.
Originally targeted for a UFC 129 matchup with Jason Brilz, Davis answered the call when Tito Ortiz pulled out of the fight with Nogueira due to injury. The opportunity to fight a bigger-name opponent on a more prominent platform was simply too good to pass up.
"To me, that just means I've got to sit in the locker room all night long and wait for my turn to do what I was going to do," Davis recently told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio). "I'd rather be in the third fight in, but whatever. It comes with the territory."
A win could position him on the doorstep of the upper tier in the light-heavyweight division. Some even have gone as far as to say he's the one who poses the most serious threat to newly crowned champion Jon Jones down the road if he continues his progression.
"It's exciting to know that it would put me in the mix with some bigger-name guys," Davis said. "Hopefully that's where I belong."
Looking past a dangerous opponent such as Nogueira would be a mistake. It's not one he will allow himself to make. Davis knows firsthand the type of skills he possesses. The pair has trained together previously in San Diego, albeit brief.
"It was a while ago," Davis said. "I trained with 'Big Nog' (Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira) a few times. I only got a chance to train with Rogerio maybe once or twice, which is neither here nor there.
"It sucks because in the MMA community it's so small that if you want to excel, you have to train with good people. But, it's also so small that you'll probably see those people later."
How much the knowledge attained on both sides from their previous encounters will play a role on fight night is a mystery.
Predictably, Davis is playing coy with regards to his game plan in an effort to keep everyone guessing.
"I told you guys I'm crazy," Davis said. "You never know what crazy people are going to do. You don't. You know they're going to be crazy. That's all you know. All you know about crazy people is you can expect not to know what they're going to do."
"Crazy" has been a frequently used adjective in news headlines recently to help describe now-infamous actor Charlie Sheen. Does this mean the two have something in common?
"He's not that crazy," Davis said. "He's probably to the point where he has enough money to live. He's comfortable without working. And he really doesn't care. He just wants to 'do Charlie.' Somebody calls him out by name, and he just wants to act crazy in public."
In other words, he's not truly crazy. He simply chooses to act that way from time to time. By his own analysis, that would make Davis crazier than Sheen.
On second thought, the way he's manhandled his competition in the octagon so far has been pretty crazy. The modified kimura he used to defeat Tim Boetsch at UFC 123 was crazy. His top-control wrestling game is and always has been crazy.
Maybe he's onto something here.
I'm hoping it's going to be another great night for another of my favourite new school stars.
Mr Wonderful
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