Next Up, Phil Davis

By Sean McNie, Special to TheOpenMat

SEATTLE—Saturday night at Ultimate Fight Night 24, undefeated up-and-comer Phil “Mr. Wonderful” (9-0-0) Davis pulled out a rather expected unanimous decision victory over veteran Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (19-5-0).

Although Nogueira looked tough with crisp boxing and some of the best defensive wrestling he’s ever displayed, he simply couldn’t keep up with Mr. Wonderful’s pace. Davis seemed a bit tense and tentative against the experienced member of the Black House camp, but he remained aggressive, and managed to dominate overall in both striking and grappling.

Davis used his superior wrestling to control Nogueira, but by no means did he run through him. This has some MMA fans doubting Davis’s worth. The thought is that If he can’t completely dominate opponents using his most refined set of skills, how good is he really? Maybe seeing Jon “Bones” Jones dismantle the former Pride star Mauricio “Shogun” Rua made us greedy.

He only scored 4 takedowns out of numerous attempts, but that’s no reason to start doubting the skill of the 4x NCAA All-American and National Champ from Penn State. Mark Munoz, a former NCAA Champ and collegiate coach himself, had been working with Nogueira leading up to the fight. This is the reason why Davis was only able to put him down a handful of times, not any lack of skill.

With this win, Davis proved himself as the #3 man to Jon “Bones” Jones” and Rashad “Suga” Evans.

Taking the fight on late notice, this was a much-needed step up in competition for Davis from previously scheduled opponents Matt Hamill and Jason Brilz. Davis has had a meteoric rise in the UFC, strangely similar to newly crowned division champ Jones.

There are striking parallels between both Davis and Jones’s careers, except for the clear fact that each fighter has risen through the division at a different pace. But make no mistake about it, this dilemma had to have been foreseen by UFC match maker Joe Silva. One fighter had to take a slower road to the top.
The current light heavyweight situation is no surprise.

Rashad Evans (15-1-1) is the #1 contender, and until that match get squared away, Davis remains at the top of an interesting pool of rookies and veterans. Ryan Bader (12-1-0) is another young fighter that deserves to stay in title contention, and if he beats Tito Ortiz in July, he may be in line to make another run to the top. Ortiz, on the other hand, still has a lot of proving to do. Other veterans that taken some losses but still remain in the mix are Vladamir Matyushenko (25-5-0), Forrest Griffin (18-6-0), and Rich Franklin (28-6-0).

This is, of course, not to mention the Strikeforce light heavyweight roster which has a similar outline to it, bringing over even more young fighters gunning for a title shot such as Mo Lawal and Roger Gracie, and past contenders and champions looking for redemption like Dan Henderson and Gegard Mousasi. These fight are hypothetical at this point, but still increase the complexity of the 205 pound title hunt in the long run.

But it all circles back to Phil Davis.

Davis may not be ready for an immediate title shot, but he has definitely earned himself a spot as the gatekeeper for the light heavyweight belt. Whoever proves themselves in the coming months should face Davis, and depending on the timing of the fights involved, the winner could produce the next top contender.

No matter which way you slice it, they all have to go through Mr. Wonderful.