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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
One of the UFC's brightest up and coming prospects makes his main card debut this weekend at UFC 123, as "Mr. Wonderful" Phil Davis takes on Tim Boetsch in Detroit.
Davis, a four time All American and NCAA D-1 wrestling champion at Penn State, has already racked up a 7-0 record in his MMA career, which began just two years ago. But while he brings a superior wrestling game to many in the light heavyweight division, Davis isn't content with skirting by on his wrestling talents.
In fact, Davis was disappointed in himself when he failed to finish Rodney Wallace in their bout at UFC 117, and in an interview with MMAFighting.com, he talked about how he wants the fans to see him as a fighter.
"It just wasn't a great fight, you know," Davis said of his UFC 117 bout. "I just felt like it was kind of an off night. I went out there, did what I needed to do, but I couldn't get a finish. And I felt like that was a guy I should have gotten a finish on. I left kind of feeling like, I guess I won, but I don't really feel like a winner."
"I don't want the fans to think I'm another one of those guys who just lays and prays and does nothing. I'm more than capable of putting on an entertaining fight, and that one just wasn't all that entertaining."
And although he's undefeated thus far in his career, Davis says doesn't think about that, and he approaches each fight as if it were his first.
"You can't think of yourself as undefeated, because there's a losing side to someone being undefeated," he said. "I think of it as, every time I get in the cage, I'm 0-0. It doesn't matter if it's my hundredth or millionth fight. What's important is always this fight."
Penick's Analysis: Davis definitely has a fan-friendly outlook on how he approaches his career. This is a chance for him to really introduce himself to a lot of people. Two of his bouts have made UFC broadcasts, and his anaconda choke over Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi was especially impressive, but on the main card of this pay-per-view event, Davis can really show people what he's got against a tough guy in Tim Boetsch. The betting line is a little outrageous heading into their matchup, but it's absolutely a fight Davis should win. And it's one I'm looking forward to.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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