Phil Davis | Source: MMAWeekly.com
Undefeated UFC light heavyweight Phil “Mr. Wonderful” Davis recently spoke with Tapology’s Steven Kelliher about his improving skills and his upcoming fight against Tim Boetsch at UFC 123 this Saturday night.
When Davis steps into the Octagon on Saturday night, it will be his fourth bout of 2010, but if he keeps improving the way he has been in recent training camps, the charismatic light heavyweight says fans can expect about as much of Mr. Wonderful as they can handle in the future.
“I’m a little bit green,” Davis said, adding, “when I get to the point where I’m really confident in my skills, I’ll be fighting six times a year.”
Currently riding a three-fight winning streak in the UFC, and unbeaten in his professional career, Davis’s most recent victory came via Unanimous Decision against powerful striker Rodney Wallace at August’s UFC 117 event. While he was undoubtedly pleased to come out of that bout with the victory, Davis was not enamored with his performance.
“To me it felt like a sparring session, it really didn’t feel like a whole fight,” Davis said. “I tried to follow my gameplan, which was to strike with him and eventually take him down, but he didn’t engage me as much as I thought he would. To me it was a boring fight, so I bet it looked boring because I thought it was boring and I was in it.”
Davis went on to elaborate on what he considers boring in MMA and how that might differ from the perspective of many fans of the sport.
“Some people think wrestlers are boring, and sometimes they are, but they need to understand that there are plenty of boring strikers out there,” Davis reasoned. “It’s actually pretty easy to make a striking match boring. From a fan’s perspective, I should go out of my box and do something crazy to get the finish, but you know what? No. The more settled I get in the sport, the more dangerous I’ll be. Then I’ll be able to take more risks in more positions.”
Davis was too much for Wallace at UFC 117 | Source: MMAWeekly.com
Davis would make no promises about future performances, but one thing he was sure of was that Saturday night’s fight with Boetsch would be anything but boring.
“This fight won’t look anything like the Rodney Wallace fight,” Davis said. “I guarantee you he’s thinking in his mind right now that he’s going to knock me out. He’s not going to wait until the third to try to finish me; he’s going to come directly at me, which I like.”
Boetsch was cut from the UFC in 2009 after alternating wins and losses, but a recent three-fight winning streak on the smaller circuit has given him another shot in the world’s top promotion. In “The Barbarian’s” most impressive performance, he tossed David Heath onto his head to earn a first-round TKO victory. Asked what he planned on doing in the event that Boetsch attempted the same type of toss on him, Davis seemed unconcerned.
“I’m sort of like a ninja,” Davis said. “When somebody tries to throw me on my head I just cartwheel.
“If that happens,” he added, “I expect a follow-up.”
Well, Mr. Wonderful, if that happens, you can expect one.
(If you haven’t, be sure to create an account at Tapology to make your picks for UFC 123!)
