Davis Aims for Griffin-Bonnar Repeat at UFC 93
Lutfi Sariahmed Jan 14, 2009
If the UFC is putting on a card overseas, chances are Marcus Davis
will be fighting. In what will be his sixth straight fight on
foreign soil, Davis will be taking on Chris Lytle at
UFC 93 this Saturday at the O2 Arena in Dublin, Ireland.
“I think that this has the makings to be like the Griffin-Bonnar fight,” Davis told Sherdog Radio’s “Beatdown” show on Friday. “I don’t want to compare anything to that because that fight was unbelievable. But that’s what I’m hoping we have. I’m hoping we have the kind of fight that people are going to be talking about not just at the water cooler the next day, but five years down the road.”
Davis (15-4) came under scrutiny when he questioned whether or not
Lytle (26-16-5) should be fighting him at this point given their
respective performances against Paul Taylor.
Davis submitted Taylor in the first round at UFC 75, while Lytle
went to a decision with the Brit at UFC 89. According to Davis, the
smack talk was all in good fun.
“I think it got blown up,” Davis said, who says the pair struck up conversation at UFC 78 in November 2007. “I started talking to him and then after the fight I said it’d be crazy with our styles if we ever fought. Then we saw each other at some UFC event and we talked about calling each other out at some point. Then when he fought Paul Taylor and I fought Paul Kelly (at UFC 89) I was going to call him out and we talked about it.”
“It made no sense for me to call him out before he fought in case he lost,” said Davis. “That’s why he called me out after the Taylor fight.”
David also caught heat for saying that the first person to take their fight to the ground would be a p---y.
“You know how it is, on these forums, if you say something that’s supposed to be a joke and everyone blows it out of proportion,” said Davis said. “It was a joke. As if we actually ever met and talked about it. No, we haven’t. We both know none of us have been knocked out in our careers and we’re going to put it all on the line for us, our families, our friends and the fans of MMA. We want to have one of those fights like Hagler vs. Hearns or however you want to look at it.”
Davis first gained notoriety as a contestant on the second season of “The Ultimate Fighter.” The experience served as a wakeup call for Davis, who described himself as “a boxer trying to survive in MMA.”
That’s when he turned to Mark DellaGrotte, the owner of the muay Thai Sityodtong camp.
“I made the phone call to Mark Dellagrotte and told him ‘I need your help,’” Davis said. “That’s when I started working with him. He changed my outlook on everything. I’ve trained with a lot of different people at a lot of different camps. To me, Mark Dellagrotte is the greatest MMA coach there is. He’s able to help me on technique without changing anything about me to inhibit the way that I fight. I can put his stuff in to fit my own style. He talks like five languages. He’s really that smart. It’s hard to find a coach you believe and trust in 100 percent. If Mark tells me to throw a punch or a kick I just do it.”
The collaboration with Dellagrotte has helped Davis develop his submission game as well. He’s finished four of his nine fights in the UFC by way of submission. But questions still linger about Davis’ ground game given that he started primarily as a pugilist. That’s just fine for the man who will be called “The Irish Hand Grenade” this Saturday.
“I don’t care,” said Davis. “I like it. Everybody thinks I still am just a boxer. They think they just have to take me down, but they sleep on my skills there and then I catch them. I am constantly adding more stuff. I’m constantly getting better. If I went out and pulled Mark Dellagrotte right now he’d tell you I’m not the same guy today as I was when I entered the camp.”
“I think that this has the makings to be like the Griffin-Bonnar fight,” Davis told Sherdog Radio’s “Beatdown” show on Friday. “I don’t want to compare anything to that because that fight was unbelievable. But that’s what I’m hoping we have. I’m hoping we have the kind of fight that people are going to be talking about not just at the water cooler the next day, but five years down the road.”
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“I think it got blown up,” Davis said, who says the pair struck up conversation at UFC 78 in November 2007. “I started talking to him and then after the fight I said it’d be crazy with our styles if we ever fought. Then we saw each other at some UFC event and we talked about calling each other out at some point. Then when he fought Paul Taylor and I fought Paul Kelly (at UFC 89) I was going to call him out and we talked about it.”
However, Davis said plans changed after the UFC switched the order
of his and Lytle’s fight that night.
“It made no sense for me to call him out before he fought in case he lost,” said Davis. “That’s why he called me out after the Taylor fight.”
David also caught heat for saying that the first person to take their fight to the ground would be a p---y.
“You know how it is, on these forums, if you say something that’s supposed to be a joke and everyone blows it out of proportion,” said Davis said. “It was a joke. As if we actually ever met and talked about it. No, we haven’t. We both know none of us have been knocked out in our careers and we’re going to put it all on the line for us, our families, our friends and the fans of MMA. We want to have one of those fights like Hagler vs. Hearns or however you want to look at it.”
Davis first gained notoriety as a contestant on the second season of “The Ultimate Fighter.” The experience served as a wakeup call for Davis, who described himself as “a boxer trying to survive in MMA.”
That’s when he turned to Mark DellaGrotte, the owner of the muay Thai Sityodtong camp.
“I made the phone call to Mark Dellagrotte and told him ‘I need your help,’” Davis said. “That’s when I started working with him. He changed my outlook on everything. I’ve trained with a lot of different people at a lot of different camps. To me, Mark Dellagrotte is the greatest MMA coach there is. He’s able to help me on technique without changing anything about me to inhibit the way that I fight. I can put his stuff in to fit my own style. He talks like five languages. He’s really that smart. It’s hard to find a coach you believe and trust in 100 percent. If Mark tells me to throw a punch or a kick I just do it.”
The collaboration with Dellagrotte has helped Davis develop his submission game as well. He’s finished four of his nine fights in the UFC by way of submission. But questions still linger about Davis’ ground game given that he started primarily as a pugilist. That’s just fine for the man who will be called “The Irish Hand Grenade” this Saturday.
“I don’t care,” said Davis. “I like it. Everybody thinks I still am just a boxer. They think they just have to take me down, but they sleep on my skills there and then I catch them. I am constantly adding more stuff. I’m constantly getting better. If I went out and pulled Mark Dellagrotte right now he’d tell you I’m not the same guy today as I was when I entered the camp.”
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