'Tarzan' Triumphant

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More than two years separated David Douglas’ third and fourth professional fights. Then, there were 14 months between his fourth and fifth, and a further 11 between his seventh and eighth. Last October, Douglas returned from another year-plus hiatus to win his first bout since 2008. Now, “Tarzan” plans on hanging around for a while.

A protégé of Cesar Gracie, Douglas came to the attention of diehard MMA fans with a string of exciting performances under the EliteXC banner in 2008. Alongside his fraternal twin brother, welterweight Damion Douglas, he will fight for the third time in six months when he squares of against Caros Fodor on the Showtime-televised main card of Friday’s Strikeforce Challengers 15.

Douglas’ absences from the cage have not stemmed from the sort of nagging injuries which so often sideline professional fighters. Instead, the 28-year-old lightweight was struggling with more emotional matters.

“I was having family issues, pretty much baby-mama drama,” explains Douglas, a father of two, adding hesitantly, “She was just hurtin’ me, not making it easy for me to train. So, I was primarily taking care of my kids.”

The timing is never right for trouble at home, but in Douglas’ case, it simply could not have been worse.

In July 2008, the Antioch, Calif., native had parlayed a 3-1 record into a contract with EliteXC and debuted with a vicious, 12-second knockout of touted Chute Boxe product Marlon Matias. Three weeks later, Douglas fought again, this time notching a 72-second pummeling of William Jacobson.

Exactly two months after his debut for the promotion, Douglas made his third trip inside the EliteXC cage. Although largely unnoticed in the lead-up to the Sept. 26, 2008, event, Douglas’ bout against Thai boxing star "Malaipet" Wiwasuk proved to be a true thriller, the kind of wild fracas that can define a fighter’s career.

Douglas started strong, plowing the standup artist to the ground and leaping into mount, but was soon reversed and forced to hunt for submissions from his back. When none came, the pair resumed striking; this time, the takedowns did not come easy for Douglas, as Malaipet assaulted him with a barrage of punches and kicks on every level.

After two rounds of brutal, exhausting back-and-forth, Douglas once more brought the fight where he wanted it. From full mount, he threw all he had at his now-battered foe, bouncing Wiwasuk’s bloodied and swollen head off the canvas until referee Jason Herzog was forced to show mercy.

Internet forums and MMA websites took notice of Douglas’ gutsy performance, but just as he seemed on the verge of a breakthrough, things took a downward turn. Less than a month after his win over Wiwasuk, EliteXC announced that it was closing up shop. However, according to Douglas, the demise of his newfound home had less to do with his subsequent inactivity than his personal life.

“I was accepted to a lot of [other promotions], I just wasn’t able to put the time in to really do it because of my family situation at the time,” Douglas says.

When he did make it back to the cage -- this time for Strikeforce in August 2009 -- Douglas was dealt his first defeat in four years, a rear-naked choke submission at the hands of Friday’s headliner, Justin Wilcox.

Then, another 14 months in the wilderness.

“That was her again,” Douglas says. “I just got rid of her last year, like, right before my last fight. You see the difference since me and her ain’t been together. It’s a huge difference.”

Indeed, Douglas has looked a man reborn since his return last October, when he halted then-unbeaten Dominic Clark on third-round punches. In February, Douglas scored the first submission win of his career, choking hometown favorite Nick Gonzalez unconscious in just 65 seconds at Strikeforce Challengers 14 in Austin, Texas.

Refocused and rolling, Douglas believes the time is right for him to graduate from Strikeforce’s prospect-building series to the main stage.

“I wanna move up, most definitely. I think ‘Challengers’ is great and all, but I want more money, so I wanna move up,” Douglas says. “After this, 155 pounds, I’m taking it over.”

Standing in his way is the Matt Hume-trained Fodor, also a winner of back-to-back bouts in Strikeforce Challengers.

“I don’t look down on anybody that steps in the cage, but I don’t see him as a threat to me,” says Douglas. “He’s tough, but I don’t really see him as a huge threat. The positions he likes to go to are real opportune positions for me.”

But Fodor is not the only roadblock Douglas sees on his road to gold. Strikeforce’s reigning 155-pound champion, Gilbert Melendez, is a longtime training partner of Douglas’, and someone whom Douglas says he could never set foot in the cage with.

“I’m not gonna fight my teammate,” he says, noting that Zuffa’s recent acquisition of Strikeforce could open up a different route. “As I move up the ladder, he stays the champ and he’s been champ for a long time, man. I don’t think anybody’s really gonna dethrone him, so it would be better for me to go to the UFC and beat somebody over there and take the title.”

Despite having competed at 150 pounds in his last bout, Douglas says a move down the scale is simply not in the cards, asserting that his muscular, 5-foot-11 frame gives him enough of an advantage in the lightweight division.

“That’s my feel-good weight. I come down from 164, 163. It’s a real easy cut,” he says. “I’m taller than everybody else, usually. I got the explosions a lot longer than the shorter guys.”

Despite its persistent overuse in today’s MMA commentary booths, “explosive” seems the perfect adjective to describe Douglas. Not only does his striking style -- which originated with his father, a tae kwon do black belt -- manifest itself in short, violent bursts, but years of strength training has made him a powerful adversary for anyone on the ground. Prior to the Gonzalez fight, Douglas claims that he bench-pressed 465 pounds -- three times his own weight.

“It’s a big advantage over everybody else, having that strength. You know, a lot of muscle will slow you down if you don’t know how to use it, but it’s a big advantage to everybody else,” says Douglas. “You just gotta know how to use it. It can be effective, or it can be a big problem. I figured out how to use it.”

His strength harnessed and personal affairs in order, the only thing remaining to be seen is whether Douglas can now stay active long enough to become king of the lightweight jungle.

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