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By: Jason Bent, MMATorch Columnist The third scheduled bout of the evening is a grudge match with the potential for fistic fireworks between Marcus "The Irish Hand Grenade" Davis and Dan Hardy in the welterweight division. The war of words between these two fighters has reached a crescendo. Both men have expressed hatred for the other and for once this has not been strictly two fighters trying to sell a fight. Certainly there was a little bit of showmanship involved early on, but now it seems as if any promotional feud that was created has now evolved into a true feud between two proud fighters.
The list of barbs exchanged between the two fighters could fill volumes, and that is not including the various message board posts both men have been guilty of making. Hardy upped the ante by having a photoshop contest of sorts with a photo of Marcus Davis being offered up for everyone to have a go at. Needless to say there were some results which were amusing, but this is because I am not Marcus Davis, of course. Davis on the other hand saw a few of these and saw red and began to seethe with even more anger before. Quite frankly it all comes down to this, Dan Hardy sees his opponent as a fake who is using his heritage to act as if this makes him an Irishman; on the other side you have Marcus Davis, who views his opponent as a step down and a bit of a joke as a fighter. So you have the fraudulent Irish fighter going up against the British punk, and the end result is a teeming hatred between the two which should equal one hell of a fight for us.
Marcus Davis's family hails from Waterford, Ireland, but he himself is American as he was born and raised in Houlton, Maine. He began boxing at the age of 14, turned pro at 19 and amassed a sterling record of 17-1-2 over his career. The one loss would signal the end of his boxing career and open the doors to MMA, as he suffered a TKO loss to 34 year old journeyman fighter Ed Bryant and soon realized his championship aspirations would be a long time coming, if ever. Davis dove headfirst into MMA and began grappling in 1995 and opened up his own school in 1997 before joining Miletich fighting Systems in 2000. Since then he has since made a home at Team Sityodtdong in Bangor, ME under the watchful eye of trainer Mark Dellagrotte.
Marcus Davis boasts a career record of 16 wins against 4 losses, with 5 of his wins coming by way of KO and 8 by submission. For a man who strikes deadliest with his fists, he has truly evolved as a mixed martial artist. Some of the notable names he has beaten include Shonie Carter, Pete Spratt, Paul Taylor, Paul Kelly and most recently Chris Lytle. Those who boast wins over the "Irish Hand Grenade" are Thiago Alves, Nuri Shakir, Melvin Guillard and Mike Swick. Of those losses, only Shakir and Swick can be said to have truly beaten Davis, as the loss to Guillard was due to a cut and Alves scored a split decision victory in a fight which obviously could have been seen going either way. This by no means diminishes the fact that Davis lost to the aforementioned fighters, but is merely a way of stating just how durable he is and as a way of showing just how difficult it has been to defeat him. Davis comes to fight and often brings more of a fight than his opponents are ready for. He is looking to do just this when he steps in there against Dan Hardy.
Davis rose to prominence by way of his appearance as a member of 'The Ultimate Fighter 2,' where he suffered a submission loss to the eventual winner in Joe Stevenson. He would face Guillard at the finale, and as stated previously, lost by way of 2nd round TKO due to cuts. Before his bout against Guillard, Davis strongly considered walking away from his MMA career, the same as he previously did in boxing, due to the fact that he suffered a shoulder injury following the bout with Stevenson and this, coupled with the loss to Guillard, put the thought of retirement into his head. This was not be of course, and he rebounded and rode an 11 fight winning streak into his bout against Mike Swick at UFC 85. Wins alone do not sufficiently tell the story of his career, as in this time period he became a true mixed martial artist and would no longer be just a former boxer plying his trade in this world. Davis is still a boxer at heart but no longer does this define him.
The highlight of Marcus Davis' career, and reportedly his life, was his split decision victory over Chris Lytle on the UFC 93 card in Dublin, Ireland. This fight was one of the most anticipated on a relatively subpar card, and lived up to any and all expectations in taking home "Fight of the Night" honors. Davis gushed with cheer following this decision and nearly burst into tears as he explained just how dear this was to him in fighting in front of his home country Ireland. "Davis is of Irish heritage, but he is not actually Irish," is the claim of his opponent Dan Hardy, and this has been but one salvo fired in their war of words which will finally hit the Octagon at UFC 99.
Dan Hardy began practicing Tae Kwon Do as a child and would go on to Thai boxing as he searched for something further to fuel his fighting fire. After some time spent training with some Shaolin monks in 2002, he decided that MMA would be the proper outlet for all of his energies. Soon after this he would return to his native England and try his hand at MMA and competed as an amateur until making his professional debut in 2004.
He would lose his debut and go on to lose two more of his first eight bouts, but this would not deter him or keep him from focusing on being the best that he could be. His submission defense was rather minimal at best, and this made the learning process a steep one for Hardy. The one common link between Hardy and Davis is the fact that both men are not the most pure of athletes, and neither one has had MMA come easily to them. This says a lot of the character of both men, and in particular Hardy who would not give up on his dream of being a champion in the world of Mixed Martial Arts.
Dan Hardy has compiled a career record of 21 wins against 6 losses and one no contest, with 11 of his wins coming by way of KO and 4 by submission. Of those he has beaten, the most notable names are those of Akihiro Gono and Rory Markham. His UFC record stands at 2-0 and he is looking to make this three in a row when he takes on Davis at UFC 99.
Dan Hardy is a power puncher, but it was this that was questioned by his opponent Rory Markham prior to their bout at UFC 95. Following his 1st round KO of Markham thanks to a brutal left hook it was Hardy who responded to allegations of his lack of power in his post fight interview by stating, "No punching power? What do have to say about that?" to which everyone agreed he indeed had punching power, with Markham having received the most clarification. Upon this victory over Markham, the notion of a bout with Davis begun to be bandied about, and fans and media alike seemed to agreed that this may be a fight worth being made. For Hardy it makes the most sense, and in victory he could gain the opportunity to move on to much bigger things within the UFC. A win over Davis, especially given their war of words, would do much to make a statement for the British fighter who before this has often made the loudest statements thanks to his penchant for wild Mohawk hair styles.
The hatred has indeed increased, and the energy surrounding this fight has increased substantially as well. What was once perceived as a serviceable bout between two capable sluggers has evolved into a must see grudge match between two men who wish to send the other's head flying out of the Octagon and into the front rows. In his most recent comments regarding his opponent, Marcus Davis has stated that he does indeed "hate" Dan Hardy and that he wishes to "punch holes in this guy's face." Continuing on further, Davis responded to the photoshopping and message board posts by declaring, "he's done all his smack talk from behind his keyboard like a 14 yr. old living in his mom's basement," which got not only a rise from Hardy but surely incited those who are indeed 14 year olds who post from the confines of their mom's basement. I, for one, know that this select group of fans do not take kindly to such comments, so it would seem that Davis will indeed be on the wrong end of even more photoshopped pictures and anger-fueled message board posts.
Dan Hardy was interviewed by Zak Woods of Watch Kalib Run and answered Davis by stating, "This is not an act. I have called him out on a few things and touched on a couple of nerves and now he won't stop whining. I met him before and he seemed like a decent guy, I don't need any more friends though, I need opponents. I don't like the fact that he thinks he has some hold over the UK. I'll keep poking fun at him to make sure he is training hard, then when I beat him down, he will have no excuses."
Marcus Davis was to have faced Ben Saunders on this card, but the war of words coupled with Davis' stumping for this bout caused a change in plans and now Saunders meets Swick and Davis gets the chance to silence Hardy. In all actuality a bout with Saunders could have been the worst thing for him stylistically, and a bout with Hardy gives him not only a better chance to win but a fight which has caused quite a buzz in the MMA community. We have two men who hate each other and have a grievance with the other who will now get the chance to settle everything by squaring off and fighting inside of a cage. This, my friends, is why MMA is so pure and this Davis vs. Hardy bout should be purely entertaining for as long as it shall last.
Bent's Prediction: Marcus Davis by 3rd Round TKO
In short, this will be a tremendously fun fight to watch. Think of the hatred between Serra and Hughes, except the end result will be both men standing on a dime and swinging in an attempt to decapitate the other. Neither man is as technically sound as either Hughes or Serra, but both are in fact equal to the other in terms of skill, and this virtually guarantees fireworks for those of us watching and a chance for these two to nab "Fight of the Night" Honors.
I respect Dan Hardy and his skills, but Marcus Davis' boxing pedigree combined with the quality of foes faced causes me to give the edge to the "Irish Hand Grenade." I believe Hardy will be more than Davis expected in the early goings but that the laser-like precision of Davis' shots will force this one to end before going to the scorecards. I am giving Hardy a world of credit in predicting that he will be able to not only survive Davis, but push him to the 3rd round, and I am doing so because I believe Hardy will be the aggressor for the 1st round and the early goings of the fight. Once Davis gets settled in and begins fighting with his head and not his heart, it should mean for things to be brought to an end and by that I mean a TKO finish for the "Irish Hand Grenade."
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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