UFC vet Marcus Davis dropping to lightweight, contemplating retirement

SuperWoody101

After seven years at welterweight, Marcus Davis will drop to the lightweight division for his next UFC appearance.

Davis today made the news official with MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) and said he made the decision after the realization that his frame is better suited for 155 pounds.

And with retirement a serious consideration at this point in his career, Davis (17-7 MMA, 9-5 UFC) plans to remain in the new weight class until he calls it quits on a once-unlikely MMA career.

"I'm going to finish out my career at 155 and try to entertain some people along the way before my old ass retires," he said. "I like the opportunities that present themselves."

"The Irish Hand Grenade" said opponents such as Sam Stout, Spencer Fisher and Dennis Siver are among the opportunities he's eyeing, though he has yet to accept his next booking.

While Davis has maintained a winning record and amassed some impressive highlights in his four-year tenure with the UFC, "The Ultimate Fighter 2" veteran admits he's been running at a disadvantage from the get-go against taller and heavier opponents.

At 5-foot-10, Davis said he's at a reach disadvantage every time he fights.

"I think the UFC has me at a 70 (inch reach), and I think they do that because they feel bad for me," he said. "My reach is 69 (inches). That's got to be the worst reach at 170. Every fight that I've had in the past year and a half, I think the closest (opponent) to my reach has been six inches longer than my reach."

That gap was more than obvious in his most recent appearance. Davis fought Nate Diaz at UFC 118 and took sustained damage as he struggled to get inside the fighter's long and lanky arms. Diaz eventually cinched a submission in the final minute of the 15-minute fight that ended the bout and put Davis to sleep.

After years of bulking up to as high as 205 pounds in order to compete with opponents who cut from the high 100s, he's slimmed to 175 pounds and thinks he'll pick up speed against lighter opponents. In fact, Davis, who initially struggled in MMA due to his limited ground skills, competed as light as 132 pounds during a pro-boxing career that ended 10 years ago with a 17-1-2 record.

"That's where I'm normally and naturally going to be, so that's where I'm going to fight right now," he said of the 155-pound lightweight division. "It does make more sense that I should be able to compete better at that weight for the fact that the weight difference isn't going to be so dramatic."

Davis currently has two fights remaining on his UFC contract and said he'll decide afterward whether to continue his career.

"I've got to win two fights," the 37-year-old former pro boxer said. "If I make 155, and I win two fights, and I feel like the new Marcus Davis, then we sit down and sign a new contract. But I will say this: I will not be 40 years old and fighting. I just can't."

An outspoken and sometimes polarizing figure among hardcore fans, Davis almost expects to be criticized for his move. But he's also realistic about his chances in the new division.

"I'm not going to blow smoke up anybody's ass and say I'm going to be this phenomenal 155-pound fighter and I'm going to be a champion," he said. "I know that I'm a 37-year-old guy who's basically got the body of a 55-year-old guy, and I've got a face that likes to open when you look at it wrong. Those are things that I'm always going to battle as a fighter.

"But this drop and being able to do it might help me a little bit more than staying at 170 pounds. I look at it like this is where my body is telling me to go, and this is what's the healthiest decision for me. I'm going to do it, and I'm going to try to do it the best I can."

With the clock ticking on his time in the fight game, the most important thing is putting on good performances.

"Some people just outright can't stand me and hate me ... but when it comes down to it, I come to fight," he said. "I know that I'm out there to entertain. You know that my fights are going to have blood – it's going to be my blood – but there is going to be blood. I'm going to get hurt, and somebody else might get hurt.

"That's what I do. I fight to entertain, and I love to fight."

Credit: http://mmajunkie.com/news/21164/ufc-vet-marcus-davis-dropping-to-lightweight-contemplating-retirement.mma

Zero-Cool

Best of luck to him anyway I say!

SanoVitae

Wow - if Mike Swick looked gaunt at welterweight, what's Marcus Davis going to look like at LW? :eek:

A slugfest with Gomi would be fun while it lasted!

scudzilla

Seems a big weight drop, Marcus will probably be one of the biggest 155'ers out there.

Question for those who have cut weight :-

Will Marcus just take a fight then start his training and go down to 155, or will he have a trial run before he enters any sort of training camp? I mean, what if he's incapable of getting to 155? Be a bit silly taking a 155 fight then 2 weeks before realise he has no hope whatsoever of hitting weight

Shazbot

scudzilla wrote: »

Question for those who have cut weight :-

Will Marcus just take a fight then start his training and go down to 155, or will he have a trial run before he enters any sort of training camp? I mean, what if he's incapable of getting to 155? Be a bit silly taking a 155 fight then 2 weeks before realise he has no hope whatsoever of hitting weight

I'd say he has done a practise cut. It would be foolish to say "I'm gonna fight at 155" before you've attempted making that weight. I believe Mir tried a practice cut to make 205 but couldn't do it. So I'd say it's common practice for fighters who are contomplating switching weight catagory.

Tones69

Paul taylor recently dropped to LW and hesa big chap, reckon marcus will do it alright but dont know how much success he will have there with top 10 guys, best of luck and il be rooting for him either way

EDIT: Just thinkin, i was chattin to him backstage at the weigh ins of ufc 99 in germany and he looked drained a lot, dont really know where he could lose another stone but time wil tell

Plastikman_eire

I remember Marcus saying back in Nov 09 that he wouldnt drop down because he couldnt make 155 anymore.

With that said, at the time he had recently stopped doing any sort of weight training so 12 months on I imagine he's lost a bit of bulk and the cut to 155 is more realistic now.

baz123

I got my scepticle face on right now......... but i do wish Marcus all the best

Fromvert

I think Marcus might struggle getting to 155. He's a pretty solid lad, he'd have to lose a lot of the upper body muscle to get down to 155.

I hope he can but at 37 a big weight cut is not going to be easy.

Hococop

hope he does well but i picture him looking like irvin at the next weigh in

Gitb1

“Ultimate Fighter” season two competitor Marcus Davis will make the drop from welterweight to lightweight to take on hard-punching Jeremy Stephens at UFC 125 on New Years Day from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

The matchup was first reported by MMAjunkie.com Wednesday morning, and Sherdog has confirmed the fight with sources close to the negotiations.

After Davis made it known that a drop to lightweight might be in his future, Stephens fired up his Twitter account and lobbied to become his first opponent at 155-pounds.

Davis has lost three of his last four fights, most recently succumbing to a Nate Diaz guillotine choke at UFC 118 in August. Prior to that loss, “The Irish Hand Grenade” scored a second-round TKO over Jonathan Goulet at UFC 113. Back-to-back defeats preceded the Goulet victory, however, as Davis was edged out by Dan Hardy at UFC 99 and decimated by the knees of Ben Saunders at UFC 106.

After his stint on “The Ultimate Fighter,” Davis made his official promotional debut at “Ortiz vs. Shamrock 3” in 2006, submitting Forrest Petz by guillotine. The 37-year-old would go on to win his next five fights in the Octagon before running into Mike Swick at UFC 85 in 2008. A former pro boxer, Davis holds only six of his career 17 victories by knockout. By contrast, eight of his wins have come by way of submission.

Stephens is fresh off a close, split decision loss to Melvin Guillard at UFC 119 in September. Prior to that fight, The Arena product had won back-to-back fights, including a “fight of the night” performance at UFC 113 against Sam Stout and a “knockout of the night” showing versus Justin Buchholz at Fight Night 19. Stephens is known for his heavy hands and has earned 13 of his career 18 wins by knockout. The 24-year old has had mixed results inside the Octagon since his debut at UFC 71, going just 5-5 in his time with the promotion.

The card will be headlined by a rematch between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard for Edgar’s lightweight title. Maynard won the first matchup, earning a unanimous decision over the future champion at UFC Fight Night in April of 2008. Also appearing on the card will be pound-for-pound great Jose Aldo as he defends his newly christened UFC featherweight title against top contender Josh Grispi in the co-main event.

http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/Davis-Faces-Stephens-in-Lightweight-Debut-at-UFC-125-28097