Tag: Phil Davis

Armchair Matchmaker: UFC 123 Edition

(Seriously, who let that mouse into the Octagon? Props: UFC.com)
Here’s what we know: BJ Penn and George Sotiropoulos already have dates at UFC 127 in Australia. Karo Parisyan has been fired (again), and Matt Brown will surely be let go as well …

Bruce Buffer UFC 123 jump
(Seriously, who let that mouse into the Octagon? Props: UFC.com)

Here’s what we know: BJ Penn and George Sotiropoulos already have dates at UFC 127 in Australia. Karo Parisyan has been fired (again), and Matt Brown will surely be let go as well after suffering his third-consecutive submission loss. (Tyson Griffin also lost his third-straight on Saturday, but will remain in the promotion, as the judges’ decision in his fight against Nik Lentz was utter horseshit.) So where do UFC 123‘s other winners and losers go from here? As usual, we have a few suggestions…

Quinton Jackson: This one’s fairly obvious, assuming that nobody really wants to see an immediate rematch between Jackson and Machida. Rampage should get the winner of Jon Jones vs. Ryan Bader at UFC 126. The winner of that fight gets a title shot. Bada-bing, bada-boom.

Lyoto Machida: Once an unstoppable force in the light-heavyweight division, it’s now been a year and a half since the Dragon has put on a dominant performance against anybody. At this point, the UFC needs to re-build Machida against a mid-level contender. Give him Matt Hamill, who deserves a step up after handling Keith Jardine and Tito Ortiz. Alternately, you could throw Machida in against Randy Couture, and see if the Natural’s gift for game-planning can carry him through against the Dragon. Of course, that matchup might not be pointless enough for Randy, so don’t get your hopes up.

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BJ Penn Wins Knockout of Night at UFC 123

Filed under: UFC, NewsFormer two-division UFC champion BJ Penn earned the Knockout of the Night at UFC 123 for his thrilling finish over UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes Saturday in Auburn Hills, Mich.

Penn floored Hughes with an overhand right and follo…

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Former two-division UFC champion BJ Penn earned the Knockout of the Night at UFC 123 for his thrilling finish over UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes Saturday in Auburn Hills, Mich.

Penn floored Hughes with an overhand right and followed up with punches on the ground to close out the trilogy two-to-one in a mere 21 seconds. The performance bonus will add an additional $80,000 to Penn’s final earnings for the fight.

Phil Davis Discusses Birth of ‘Mr. Wonderful’ Submission

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AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — MMA Fighting spoke to Phil Davis following his UFC 123 win over Tim Boetsch Saturday night about how he set up his unique submission move, his 4-0 start in the UFC and what’s next.

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AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — MMA Fighting spoke to Phil Davis following his UFC 123 win over Tim Boetsch Saturday night about how he set up his unique submission move, his 4-0 start in the UFC and what’s next.

Star Watch Officially Begins for Phil Davis at UFC 123

Filed under: UFCAUBURN HILLS, Mich. — It doesn’t take much more than a cursory look at Phil Davis to realize he’s a physical specimen. He has thick, powerful legs, broad shoulders and barely an ounce of fat on his 6-foot-2 frame.

The deeper you look,…

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AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — It doesn’t take much more than a cursory look at Phil Davis to realize he’s a physical specimen. He has thick, powerful legs, broad shoulders and barely an ounce of fat on his 6-foot-2 frame.

The deeper you look, you realize the gifts are more than simply what’s at surface level. He is bright, well-spoken, and a realist. He seeks out the best training in all the various parts of MMA, is willing to work his way up from the bottom and puts in his time at the gym. The former NCAA wrestling champion has long been on the radar of MMA insiders, but three fights into his UFC career, fans have been slow to warm to Davis, likely because none of his previous fights has been on a main card.

That changes at UFC 123, when Davis makes his main card debut in a bout with Tim Boetsch. With a win, the Phil Davis hype train may well begin to fuel up and fill up.

UFC 123: By the Odds

Filed under: UFCIn at least one way, UFC 123 is already a disappointment. To me, anyway.

I would have thought that when you put Lyoto Machida – a fighter known for drinking his own urine – together with “Rampage” Jackson – a fighter known for his pla…

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In at least one way, UFC 123 is already a disappointment. To me, anyway.

I would have thought that when you put Lyoto Machida – a fighter known for drinking his own urine – together with “Rampage” Jackson – a fighter known for his played out bad breath jokes – we would have had comedy gold by now. I would have thought the combination of necessity and opportunity would help break some new ground in the field of bad breath jokes. Sort of like the polio vaccine, only much, much less helpful to society.

No such luck so far. Guess that means we’ll have to put our hopes in the fights themselves to entertain us. Let’s start with a look at how oddsmakers think Saturday night’s event will play out, along with some suggestions on where they might be wrong.

Lyoto Machida (-280) vs. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (+220)

Phil Davis Believes Fans Should Curb Expectations of Him

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DETROIT — MMA Fighting spoke to Phil Davis about UFC 123 fight against Tim Boetsch on Thursday. “Mr. Wonderful” talked about his recent visit to a Detroit Pistons game, why fans should curb their expectations of him and potentially going 4-0 in his rookie year in the UFC.

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DETROIT — MMA Fighting spoke to Phil Davis about UFC 123 fight against Tim Boetsch on Thursday. “Mr. Wonderful” talked about his recent visit to a Detroit Pistons game, why fans should curb their expectations of him and potentially going 4-0 in his rookie year in the UFC.