Conditions at UFC Saudi Arabia brought some unexpected challenges for several fighters coming over from America.
The UFC’s return to Saudi Arabia this past Saturday night produced an entertaining card but not all was as it seemed for the fight fans that tuned in. In the opening fight of the main card, Mike Davis made his Octagon return having not fought since March of last year where he submitted Natan Levy.
There were some entertaining bouts from top to bottom and Davis’ lightweight clash with the surging Fares Ziam was no different.
Ziam ended up being one of two French fighters on the card to secure the biggest wins of their careers to date, beating Davis via a unanimous decision to extend his winning streak to five.
After the final bell, there were some questions being raised about how the fight played out whilst giving Ziam the credit he deserved.
Mike Davis says that backstage breathing issues significantly impacted his performance
Whilst it has been a while since we last saw Mike Davis in action, ‘Beast Boy’ did not look himself in the fight and appeared to tire in the first round.
A potential explanation for this has now been spoken about by several fighters on the card who detailed how the newly painted locker rooms at the ANB Arena made it a far less than ideal space for them.
During his appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, Terrance McKinney, who fortunately didn’t need to fight into the later rounds, spoke about how he felt the effects of this.
“I even felt it a little bit too and I was like, this is probably the best cardio I’ve had ever, in any fight, like I’ve been running five miles every other day and I felt it.”
McKinney mentioned how Davis had similar issues before the lightweight contender replied to the post on X, detailing what went down.
“I’m telling you. I was not myself out there. I was out of breathe shadow boxing for the camera. Felt like I was breathing through a tube the whole fight.”
Mike Davis still managed to put on a gutsy display
The positive note that Mike Davis can take away from his Octagon return is that his recent defeat wasn’t necessarily down to a drop in form.
‘Beast Boy’ hasn’t been known for having cardio issues but it was immediately clear that there something off about this performance.
Even with that being said, he attempted a calf slicer submission in the second round that had every fight fan grimacing with Ziam’s incredible flexibility somehow keeping him from tapping.
Davis was previously on a four-fight win streak before this setback so hopefully he can get back inside the Octagon sooner rather than later in order to recapture some of his momentum.