Phil Davis (9-0-0), “Mr. Wonderful,” one of UFC’s fastest rising stars and he has spent the past several weeks in San Diego training for the main event for “UFC on Fox 2” to take place January 28, at Chicago’s United Center. He will face former UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans (21-1-1) in a non-title light heavyweight bout. A win over Evans will likely place him just one fight away from a title fight.
Davis spends approximately five hours a day training with Team Alliance at the Alliance Training Center in Chula Vista. Training is broken up between morning and evening sessions. In between, Davis heals his body in a hyperbaric chamber at the San Diego Center for Hyperbaric Therapy in Kearny Mesa. This is where Davis sat down with 619sports.net for this interview.
You are known as Mr. Wonderful after a cat that you had in college that disappeared during a road trip. Have you ever replaced Mr. Wonderful.
No. There is no new cat in my life.
You wear hot pink shorts while fighting to raise awareness of breast cancer, which your mother has had some scares with. How is she doing?
She’s doing well. She never really had cancer. She has had several scares and several tumors removed. I lost an aunt to cancer. My roommate in college, his mother is battling breast cancer currently. It is one of those things that if you really look around it is around you.
Is that roommate Corey Bennett, the same guy who originally encouraged you to give MMA a shot?
Yes. That is the same roommate. Kind of a character this guy.
Where did you begin fighting as an amateur?
Back east in Pennsylvania and Ohio.
How fast can you go from being an unknown to being ranked one of the best MMA fighters in the world ?
It happened for me in about 18 months. Going from college wrestling to being ranked in the world.
Despite being ranked sixth in your weight class and perhaps only a few fights away from a championship match, do you consider yourself to be more of a beginner than an expert because you only have nine fights under your belt and two years of mixed martial arts experience?
Absolutely. I plan to keep that mind set for awhile. It has to do with how I perceive my ability to grow. I think I have so much room to grow. So much more to learn. I am at the very beginning stage of what I am capable of. I’m like the internet in 1993. AOL 2.0 is what I am right now. I am going to be much, much better in a couple of years and further.
Even if you beat Evans you will likely have at least one more fight before you will have an opportunity to fight for the championship. Because you consider yourself a beginner do you welcome the extra time to train and get better for a possible championship fight?
Yes and No.
Yes, because I always want to be the best that I can be. That just means more time in the gym and more time training.
At the same time, I really don’t want to think beyond January, 28. I have to put everything into that date. After that, then we will decide what is going to happen next. It’s kind of silly for me to say, ‘After I fight Rashad Evans, then I can plan to fight for the title in May.’ No, I want to put all my marbles in one basket for this fight. Then after that, we will decide what comes next.
Do you feel like you need to bring something new every time you get into the octagon to keep your opponent guessing?
Yes. I think that if I don’t continue to bring something new, then I was the same person the last time that I fought. I didn’t learn anything new in training camp. I didn’t work on anything. I didn’t go back and define my skills and clean up some of my imperfections. If I didn’t do any of that, then I am the exact same person.
I cover the NFL where a considerable amount of time is spent on film study. How much of any of your training time is spent watching film to study your opponents tendencies?
Not as much as the NFL. In a sport like football you have variables, but then you have some things that are constant. There is always 100 yards on the field. There is always 11 players. If I am a wide receiver and you are a cornerback, we are probably going to line up. So those things kind of remain the same.
What is different about MMA versus football in the film study aspect is that people will only give me a certain reaction based on who I am. If you are a striker and I am a wrestler, you are going to respond differently with me, than if I was a striker and you are striker.
Because you are a wrestler are you more comfortable fighting on the matt and do you feel like you can take away some of your opponents weapons if you can get them off of their feet?
Yes. I am just more comfortable when I grab someone. Once I get my hands on you, I feel like I can do anything I want. I am in my own world once I grab a wrist. Give me a wrist and I can do anything I want. I can pick you up. I can slam you. I can take you down. I can choke you. Anything. But at the same time, I still like the striking game. I think that ‘s fun also.
Can you describe the Kimura move that you finished Tim Boetsch (14-4-0) off with?
The way I finished it was kind of a modified wrestling move. In wrestling something that is going directly against the joints is potentially dangerous and they stop it. But obviously in submission fighting that is O.K. It is his responsibility to tap. So, I basically turned a wrestling move that I had known into a submission move.
It appears that you care a lot more about winning than hurting your opponent, is that perception accurate?
Absolutely, I don’t get anything by hurting anyone.
If you can find away to win a match without going blow-to-blow, does that serve you in that you are not getting yourself hurt in the process?
Rule number one: Don’t get knocked out.
Rule number two: Uou should try to knock the other guy out. At certain points it is O.K. to take a punch to give a punch. But you don’t want through that in as your M.O.. That is not a life philosophy. You don’t need to give a dollar to take a dollar. No one can make money that way. You can’t be a successful fighter. You can’t run a business. You can’t do anything that way. I try to avoid damage as much as possible.
MMA is a mental game as well as a physical game. How much thinking do you do you do when fighting?
A good deal. It really is kind of like a physical chess game. A lot of times people’s perceptions is just go in there angry and beat the guy up. But, let’s say you go into the octagon crazy, angry, and really upset. You end up tired in about a minute in a half. That doesn’t work. You need to know what you are doing. You just can’t go in all Willy-nilly as a crazy person.
What team are you on?
Team Alliance of the Alliance Training Center. We have about 25 pro fighters and we are constantly acquiring new fighters from all over the world.
I fought Alexander Gustafsson in Abu Dhabi a year ago. Afterwards, he and I were talking and we said, “We should go train together.” Because he is a young guy and I am a young guy. He has been one of my greatest training partners since because he is a good fighter. He has gotten a lot from me and I have gotten a lot from him. We just made each other a lot better.
If you are not training with good guys, it is hard to get a look that only a good guy can give you.
Is Alliance a San Diego based team?
It’s a San Diego team. Guys will fly in and do their training camp from other places.
What are some of the benefits for you training in San Diego
Good weather, good weather and there are lots of good fighters here in San Diego and in southern California.
I am having a difficult time understanding the concept of being on a team in such an individual sport. Is it similar to NASCAR where you share facilities and information, but at the end of the day you are your own man?
NASCAR is really close to what it is like in terms of individual yet team aspect at the same time.
I watched the piece on you doing the Marine’s Crucible Training at Camp Pendleton. It made for a good show, but was there anything from that experience that you can actually use in a fight?
Maybe not so much skill wise. Maybe just a little bit more mental toughness. The whole experience was pretty cool. We got to meet and talk with some young soldiers. Some guys just graduating. A lot of them are just 17, 18 and 19. They look up to us so much. It just really makes me appreciate what I do and what they are doing. Life is really interesting some times.
Do you find that the reality is you are the one looking up to the soldiers?
Absolutely. I don’t want to sound silly, but I truly am just competing for fun and for a pay check. They are doing similar things for something more admirable.
How long is a training camp for a UFC fight?
Six to eight weeks.
How much healing time do you need between fights?
As needed. I have fought back to back in the UFC. I fought on February 6, and then again on April10. Fight. Training camp. Fight.
You use hyperbaric chambers on a daily basis as part of your training routine. How do they help in preparing your body to fight?
If you are broken it heals you. You really can’t supplement health with anything else. Once you are injured, you are sidelined. It keeps you feeling good and keeps you healthy.
You are a Blue Belt in Jiu Jitsu. I am not familiar with Jiu Jitsu. Where does a blue fit in your towards becoming a Black Belt?
I actually just got my blue belt about a month ago. It is just a way to chart your progress, but it doesn’t necessarily have to do with your skill level. Some nurses will tell you they know more about the practical knowledge of treating patients than some doctors. I am much better than a blue belt would have you seem.
You have to know certain moves and you have to know the proper order. I don’t know all those things and I don’t know the names. I am not really so much into the sport of Jiu Jitsu.
I witnessed my sister and her husband test for their black belt in Tae Kwan Do. Their sensei explained being a black belt as finally reaching the state of being a beginner because at that point you have learned all the moves and it takes the rest of your life to master them. Is that accurate?
Of course, the guys who are true black belts are not in it just to say they are a black belt. They are in it for the long haul. They are in it because they want to be the best. They are constantly improving and they are constantly working to be better.
There are obviously personalities in MMA. You come across as being very likeable. Is Rashad Evans perceived as being a jerk?
Yeah, he is. That’s how people read him. I don’t think that he is necessarily a bad guy, but the fans don’t really buy it.
Do you think that is his way of getting a mental edge on an opponent?
Yeah, I think that is what he tries to do.
You are an alum of Penn State and Rashad Evans is an alum of Michigan State. Does your college rivalry play all it to fight or is that just part of the pre-fight hype.
I would have to say yes and no. Yes, because that are both Big 10 schools and we are rivals there. But, Michigan State has never been a rival to Penn State, so I would have to say no.
You have said, “On paper I should lose to Rashad Evans, but the crazy thing is I won’t.” Why do you think on paper you should lose and why do you think you won’t?
When he started fighting I had just begun college wrestling. So his career has been twice as long as mine. He has been training MMA more than twice as long as I have. He has more than double the number of fights. He has doubled his experience than mine in both categories, competition and training and everything else in between.
That is what it is about, time in the gym and time on the mat and he has that. He is a formal champion, so he is not a slouch.
But these are odds that I have been put against before. These are things that I am use to dealing with. These are things that I am use to over coming. So it is not a daunting task to me. Don’t get me wrong, it is a challenge. But it is not impossible to me because this is not the first time that on paper I have been out-gunned.
Does that give you a mental advantage in that you have done it before and perhaps Rashad Evans is looking past you a bit?
Absolutely, I think it gives me a severe mental advantage. The only thing I know is not to give up and I just win.
He on the other hand, thinks there is no way he can lose. He is a better striker, a better grappler. He has more time in. He has been a champion, and I am just young.
How could he lose? He has no idea how I am going to beat him. That’s my advantage. He has no idea how he is going to lose.
Craig Elsten -
Chainsaw -
