UFC light heavyweight Phil Davis appears more than ready to disavow Vinny Magalhaes of any title-contender notions.
Following an extended and often quite heated series of challenges on Twitter, the UFC granted Magalhaes‘ wish and scheduled the two for a fight on April 27 at UFC 159.
And while Davis doesn’t necessarily begrudge Magalhaes‘ ultimately successful approach to matchmaking, he did warn Magalhaes to take care what he wished for.
“I hope the evening of April 27, when he gets back to his hotel room he doesn’t say to himself ‘What did I do this for? Why did I do this to myself?'” Davis told journalist Ariel Helwani Monday during The MMA Hour broadcast. “‘I could’ve fought somebody who wasn’t top-10…I could’ve come home a winner without two black eyes and a bruised ego.’ I hope he doesn’t say that. But it’s looking like he will…It’s not going to be as fun as he thinks it’s going to be.”
Magalhaes had an opportunity to step in for an injured Forrest Griffin and face Davis at UFC 155 on three weeks notice. Magalhaes declined the UFC’s offer, but used Twitter to press for the match at a later date.
“If you have the opportunity to fight me, you can’t back down after we’ve already agreed,” Davis said of Magalhaes‘ declination. “It’s silly. It’s annoying.”
Davis said he believed Magalhaes hadn’t yet accomplished enough in the cage to justify the matchup, but added he wasn’t upset over the UFC’s decision.
“What he’s done in the UFC, which is one win and his old two losses doesn’t really warrant a fight with me,” Davis said. “But fine. Listen, I don’t do matchmaking…I’m just going to go with what [Joe Silva] says.”
There will be plenty on the line besides bragging rights when Davis and Magalhaes lock horns. Davis (10-1-1) last fought in October, when he took a submission victory at UFC 153 in a rematch with Wagner Prado.
Davis and Prado initially fought in August; the bout ended in a no-contest ruling after Davis inadvertently poked Prado in the eye. A win over Magalhaes could show that Davis is all the way back from his January 2012 loss to Rashad Evans, and it could land Davis back in the light heavyweight title conversation.
Magalhaes (10-5-1) is looking to enter that conversation for the first time. The jiu-jitsu ace first made an impact on the eighth season of The Ultimate Fighter, on which he made a run to the final bout but lost the six-figure UFC contract to Ryan Bader. Nevertheless, he received another shot in the Octagon, but lost to Eliot Marshall and was summarily released.
The Brazilian earned his next UFC shot the hard way, winning seven of eight after the release en route to capturing and defending the light heavyweight strap in the prestigious M-1 promotion. Magalhaes returned to the UFC in September, defeating Igor Pokrajac at UFC 152 with a beautiful armbar submission.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com