Anthony Johnson snapped Phil Davis’ win streak in April, but “Mr. Wonderful” is already looking to start a new one against Glover Teixeira in Rio de Janeiro.
Davis, who scored all of his four wins since 2011 against Brazilian opponents, returns to action in the co-main event of the UFC 179 pay-per-view card on Oct. 25, and fighting in enemy territory is not new to him.
After wins over Lyoto Machida and Wagner Prado in Rio, he meets against another dangerous light heavyweight contender in Teixeira.
“I always perform well when I’m in Rio,” Davis told MMAFighting.com. “I hope this is not my last time in Brazil. I love Brazil, I love Rio. The long travel doesn’t really bother me.”
In fact, a series of wins over Brazilians could be used to promote him in the UFC.
Alex Stiebling became “The Brazilian Killer” after six straight wins over Brazilians in 2001/02, but Anderson Silva eventually ended his streak with a quick TKO in PRIDE. Will Davis become the next Brazilian Killer in MMA?
“I’m not gonna call myself the Brazilian Killer,” he said, “but if somebody wants to name me the Brazilian Killer, you’re more than welcome.”
Davis and Teixeira have completely different fighting styles, and Teixeira’s takedown defense might be good enough to stop his wrestling and force him to stand at UFC 179.
“I certainly hope not. We’ll find out,” Davis said. But what if Teixeira does succeed with his takedown defense? “That would be a great way to get my first knockout win in the UFC.”
Returning to the Octagon following the second loss of his professional career, Davis changed a few things on his training camp after a unanimous decision loss to “Rumble” Johnson.
“I’m just staying patient, working on different things,” he said. “No need to do anything crazy on my training. I just stay focused on what I have to do.”
We will never find out what he means by “anything crazy”, though.
“Well, I’d love to tell you, but then I’d have to kill you,” Davis said with a laugh. “I can’t just give up that.”
Davis expects that an impressive win over Teixeira puts him one win away from a shot at the UFC light heavyweight title, and he doesn’t care if Jon Jones will stay at the top by the time he gets there.
“I look at that as a minor setback,” Davis said of the impact of his loss to Johnson in his title aspirations, “but I think a win down in Rio will put me right back in the title race.
“It doesn’t matter to me if (Jones) is (the champion) or he isn’t. I’m actually in this for a title. I would love to beat the guy that takes the belt from Jon Jones, but at the same time I’d be just as happy to take the belt from anyone else.”
Anthony Johnson snapped Phil Davis’ win streak in April, but “Mr. Wonderful” is already looking to start a new one against Glover Teixeira in Rio de Janeiro.
Davis, who scored all of his four wins since 2011 against Brazilian opponents, returns to action in the co-main event of the UFC 179 pay-per-view card on Oct. 25, and fighting in enemy territory is not new to him.
After wins over Lyoto Machida and Wagner Prado in Rio, he meets against another dangerous light heavyweight contender in Teixeira.
“I always perform well when I’m in Rio,” Davis told MMAFighting.com. “I hope this is not my last time in Brazil. I love Brazil, I love Rio. The long travel doesn’t really bother me.”
In fact, a series of wins over Brazilians could be used to promote him in the UFC.
Alex Stiebling became “The Brazilian Killer” after six straight wins over Brazilians in 2001/02, but Anderson Silva eventually ended his streak with a quick TKO in PRIDE. Will Davis become the next Brazilian Killer in MMA?
“I’m not gonna call myself the Brazilian Killer,” he said, “but if somebody wants to name me the Brazilian Killer, you’re more than welcome.”
Davis and Teixeira have completely different fighting styles, and Teixeira’s takedown defense might be good enough to stop his wrestling and force him to stand at UFC 179.
“I certainly hope not. We’ll find out,” Davis said. But what if Teixeira does succeed with his takedown defense? “That would be a great way to get my first knockout win in the UFC.”
Returning to the Octagon following the second loss of his professional career, Davis changed a few things on his training camp after a unanimous decision loss to “Rumble” Johnson.
“I’m just staying patient, working on different things,” he said. “No need to do anything crazy on my training. I just stay focused on what I have to do.”
We will never find out what he means by “anything crazy”, though.
“Well, I’d love to tell you, but then I’d have to kill you,” Davis said with a laugh. “I can’t just give up that.”
Davis expects that an impressive win over Teixeira puts him one win away from a shot at the UFC light heavyweight title, and he doesn’t care if Jon Jones will stay at the top by the time he gets there.
“I look at that as a minor setback,” Davis said of the impact of his loss to Johnson in his title aspirations, “but I think a win down in Rio will put me right back in the title race.
“It doesn’t matter to me if (Jones) is (the champion) or he isn’t. I’m actually in this for a title. I would love to beat the guy that takes the belt from Jon Jones, but at the same time I’d be just as happy to take the belt from anyone else.”