At last weekends UFC 123 event, “Mr. Wonderful” Phil Davis faced Tim Boetsch in the octagon. Working an established game plan versus his opponent, Davis would wow the crowd with his use of a modified Kimura to submit Boetsch in the second.
Fans are calling the submission “the Mr. Wonderful,” the “Philmura,” or “the Wonderbar.”
The submission wasn’t something Davis planned on using but it was something he had to adapt to in order to force the tap from Boetsch. Davis realizes that a submission like that can be very damaging to an opponent and wasn’t out to injury his opponent with it’s use, he just wanted to win.
“When I originally went for the Kimura, I knew he had rubbery arms…It sucks that I have to say this, but I knew I was going to have to rip it. He wasn’t going to tap from just pressure…His shoulders are so flexible. So I had to pull on it and kind of adjust it a little bit more than I wanted to. I don’t wanna see anybody hurt. I want him to be able to go home and play with his wife and kids.”
That submission helped to keep “Mr. Wonderful’s” record perfect at 8-0 and also garnered him the “Submission of the Night” award, a bonus worth $80,000 presented by UFC president Dana White.
So far Davis is 4-0 since making his UFC debut in February of this year having earned wins over Boetsch, Rodney Wallace at UFC 117, Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 112, and Brian Stann at UFC 109.
HT: MMAWeekly.com for the quote.
(Photos by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)