Phil Davis
One of the UFC’s top light heavyweights is heading to rival Bellator MMA, officials today announced.
Phil Davis (13-3 MMA, 9-3 UFC), who’s ranked No. 7 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA light-heavyweight rankings, has signed an exclusive multi-fight contract with the Spike TV-televised promotion.
A debut date and opponent were not revealed, and financial terms of the deal were not disclosed (via Twitter):
“I can’t wait to be fighting in Bellator and wreck shop on everyone,” Davis stated. “I am the absolute best and most dominant grappler to ever fight in MMA, and I’m excited to get in there and compete at my new home.”
Davis recently completed the final fight on his UFC contract with a narrow split-decision loss to Ryan Bader in January at UFC on FOX 14.
The 30-year-old, who won an NCAA Division I national wrestling championship with Penn State in 2008 (and was a four-time All-American overall), opened his MMA career in 2008 and joined the UFC after just four pro fights. He won his first five fights with the promotion, which included a submission victory over Alexander Gustafsson, before a title-eliminator defeat to Rashad Evans in 2012.
Recently, he’s faced the cream of the crop of the 205-pound division, which included decision victories over ex-champ Lyoto Machida and recent title challenger Glover Teixeira, as well as losses to Bader and Anthony Johnson.
“Phil is a world class mixed martial artist, and we are very happy to be adding him to our roster of some of the best light heavyweights in the world,” Bellator President Scott Coker stated. “Bellator remains fully committed to building its world-class roster by signing top free agents like Davis, as well as grooming up-and-coming stars. We’ve got some amazing matchups in mind for ‘Mr. Wonderful’ that we will be announcing in the weeks to come.”
An obvious possibility? A fight with reigning champion Liam McGeary (10-0 MMA, 7-0 BMMA), who won the title with a victory over Emanuel Newton earlier this year.
For more on Bellator’s upcoming schedule, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.
Filed under: Bellator, Featured, News, UFC
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