Phil Davis was one fight away from potentially entering title contention at 205 pounds until a knee injury forced him out of action for the remainder of the year.
The light heavyweight division has witnessed its fair share of injuries, shuffling the weight class around dramatically throughout the past year.
Davis was originally expected to face Rashad Evansfrom at UFC 133 until his injury prevented him from competing, allowing Evans to pick up the victory against Davis’ replacement, Tito Ortiz.
Now, “Mr Wonderful” has been active during training sessions and has recovered well from his injury and is anticipating a 2012 return to the UFC. Upon his return, Davis would be open to a bout with Evans.
“That may be a fight that makes sense,” Davis told MMAWeekly.com. “He’s still a top five guy, definitely one of the best guys in the world, we’ll see what happens.”
Davis has been seen as one of the rising prospects in the light heavyweight division, earning victories over Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Alexsander Gustaffson. Certainly, a step up in competition would only seem logical for the 27-year-old, but Davis is content on facing whoever he is matched up against.
Often seen as a colorful personality in the media, Davis said he prefers to do his talking inside the Octagon and doesn’t feel the need to challenge his opponents.
“I personally don’t know or care, cause the great thing about me is you can give me somebody in the top five, or the top ten, or you can give me somebody not in the top ten, and I’m still confident that I’m going to win regardless,” he said. “I don’t make the decisions and I don’t pretend that I do.”
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