UFC light heavyweight contender Phil Davis perplexed the majority of the fight community when he called out former longtime 185-pound champ Anderson Silva, but he maintains that the matchup makes sense.
After a decisive, albeit largely uneventful, unanimous-decision win Saturday over former UFC title challenger Glover Teixeira at UFC 179 , Mr. Wonderful said he'd love a fight with Silva and explained why at the post-fight press conference (h/t Mixedmartialarts.com).
He’s an awesome fighter, probably one of the best to ever compete in the UFC, so why not? All the questions during the media day were centered around being ‘The Brazilian Killer.’ I don’t know if I’d call myself a killer, but at the same time, that would complete my trifecta of Brazilian fighters.
While Teixeira also hails from Brazil, Davis refers to his previous victories over Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and former UFC light heavyweight titleholder Lyoto Machida due to their connection to Black House and Silva.
After Little Nog initially showcased stout takedown defense at their UFC Fight Night 24 encounter in March 2011, Davis quickly adapted on the fly and found a way to get the fight to the ground.
The former four-time NCAA Division I All-American also managed to shut down the submission game of Nogueira, a well-known Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt.
His victory over The Dragon at UFC 163 in August of last year was far less convincing, as he clearly lost the striking battle and did little damage when the fight hit the mat.
Nevertheless, Davis' takedowns and submission attempts were sufficient to convince the three judges he did enough to get his hand raised.
With all that being said, his callout of Silva remains puzzling being that the all-time great is a career middleweight who has fought at 205 pounds just three times in 39 professional fights.
On top of that, The Spider is already booked for a slugfest with former Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz at UFC 183 on January 31.
Diaz has only fought above 170 pounds twice in his 36-fight career, both of which were catchweight matchups, and has never competed at middleweight before.
Also bear in mind that Davis has never fought at a weight class other than light heavyweight, and due to his lean, muscular physique, dropping down to 185 pounds doesn't seem like a realistic possibility.
In the event that Silva defeats Diaz, would there be any set of circumstances to make a bout with Davis make sense?
John Heinis is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com.
