UFC
Despite facing different opponents, Jon Jones and Phil Davis trade barbs on UFC 172 media conference call
Apr 22, 2014 - 11:00:17 AM Despite facing different opponents, Jon Jones and Phil Davis trade barbs on UFC 172 media conference call

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Jon Jones and Phil Davis may have different fights on Saturday night at UFC 172, but that didn't stop them from getting into it on a pre-fight media call this week.

Davis continues to get himself attention, and he dug in deep against Jones during the call. Here's the exchange (transcribed by MMA.TV):

Jon Jones: "I'm not giving up on you, Phil."

Phil Davis: "I'm not going to give up you either, sweetheart."

Phil Davis: "Whatever Glover does to him... I'll clean up whatever's left."

Jon Jones: "Not nice, Phil."

Phil Davis: "You're welcome."

Jon Jones: "I didn't say thanks."

Phil Davis: "We all saw you were scared (vs. Gustafsson). What have you done to overcome your scared-ness? Did you get a nightlight? Do you sleep with a teddy bear now? What did you do?

Jones Jones: "I actually do sleep with a teddy. I do sleep with a teddy, Phil. Does that answer your question?"

Phil Davis: ""The last time you said you could handle somebody in the striking department, Alex hit you so many times in the right eye, you almost turned into a pirate. How are you so sure you can be better than Glover standing up, because let me tell you, I've seen Glover before, and what are you going to do?"

Jon Jones: "I have nothing to prove fighting a guy like Phil. I've already proven myself against a lot of amazing martial artists, and I think if anything, Phil is kind of embarrassing himself with all the antics. But it's what he's deciding to do today. I am a champion, and I fight the top dogs, and my whole career has been in the fast lane. I'm not going to sit here and belittle myself by entertaining Phil.

"At first, I thought it was funny, but it's just silly. I'm fighting Glover, and he's fighting Anthony Johnson. I need to stay focused on Glover, because Glover is a great challenge to me. I just think when you talk like that and you be so goofy, it puts more pressure on you.

"I mean, what if he goes out there and gets caught with one of those high kicks from Anthony and gets knocked out? It's going to be really embarrassing talking so much trash to me and getting knocked out by Anthony. So I'm going to keep my mouth shut and stay focused on what I'm here for, and that's Glover."

Penick's Analysis: You've got to hand it to Davis, he's putting himself in a position where he could talk his way into that shot sooner than he would have gotten it otherwise. That said, Jones is right that Davis needs to win on Saturday night. He's spending so much time talking about Jones that it'll look quite bad for him if he gets upset by Johnson because he's looking ahead. That said, he's a favorite for a reason, and if he picks up an impressive win, he could plug himself right into things, perhaps jumping over Daniel Cormier after Alexander Gustafsson.

[Phil Davis art by Grant Gould (c) MMATorch.com]