Phil Davis: Win over Glover Teixeira puts me right back in title contention

Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

Phil Davis is in quite an in interesting spot ahead of his UFC 179 match-up against Glover Teixeira.

“Mr Wonderful” is coming off a disappointing loss to Anthony Johnson in his last octagon outing, and is in a must-win position to stay relevant in the 205-pound division.

“It feels a little different but it also feels the same.” Davis revealed at the UFC 179 media day event.

Placed against a fighter coming off a title shot against Jon Jones, Davis considers Teixeira to be of a champion’s caliber.

“Glover Teixeira is not the champion, but he is of a champion’s caliber. So in no way am I taking this fight lightly.”

He also believes that a win on Saturday night puts him right back in the running for a coveted title shot in 2015.

“(A win) puts me right back where I want to be in terms of title contention. It puts me back in the win column.”

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About the author

Karim Zidan

Karim Zidan is a investigative reporter and feature writer focusing on the intersection of sports and politics. He has written for BloodyElbow since 2014 and has served as an associate editor since 2016. He also writes for The New York Times and The Guardian. Karim has been invited to speak about his work at numerous universities, including Princeton, and was a panelist at the South by Southwest (SXSW) film festival and the Oslo Freedom Forum. He also participated in the United Nations counter-terrorism conference in 2021. His reporting on Ramzan Kadyrov’s involvement in MMA, much of which was done for Bloody Elbow, has led to numerous award nominations, and was the basis of an award-winning HBO Real Sports documentary.