Phil Davis hade tidigare chansen att skriva på ett nytt kontrakt för UFC, men valde istället att gå över till den rivaliserande organisationen Bellator MMA.
Förra året trashtalkade Davis UFC:s mästare i lätt tungvikt, Jon Jones, då han jämförde honom med en kaka som han skulle smula sönder. Jones passade därför på att svara på Davis flytt med följande:
Oh my goodness, ’Mr. JV,’ himself. To be honest, I’m happy for him if he’s going to make more money over there. Ultimately, it’s about providing for our families. It’s a job at the end of the day. If he’s going to be treated better over there, good for him. I do believe the competition is not as stiff at Bellator as the UFC so I think he’ll definitely be a top three guy in the world now. Good for him. Maybe he’ll even win it. To be a world champion and to make a little more money, that’s a win-win. But good luck ’crumbling me like a cookie’ from all the way over there.
Detta hade Davis att säga till ”Bones”:
You know what, here is what I have for Jon, because I think this is long overdue. I need to apologize to poor Jonny, because I said those words about crumbling him like a cookie and he has hung onto those words for all of about a year now. And apparently he hung onto those words because I hurt his feelings. So, let me apologize to him by saying sorry I said I was going to crumble you like a cookie, because he has still not let that go. I get it. I feel bad the poor guy has been worried about that comment ever since I said it. He is very sensitive you know?
Nu när Davis har börjat i Bellator har han fått ställa in siktet på den nuvarande mästaren Liam McGeary. Davis är dock säker på att han kommer kunna tackla allt motstånd:
I want to be the best no matter where I am. Now I am in Bellator and I want to be the best there. Right now Liam McGeary is holding down the belt, so I want to fight him. The 205-pound division is loaded with some pretty tough talent, but I think to myself I am a very tough guy. I feel like I’m ready to get in there and fight any of those guys.
Davis förklarar att han är glad över att slippa UFC:s nya sponsring från Reebok. Han kommer nu att kunna ha hur många sponsorer han kan.
Well, that seems to be a sensitive subject the whole sponsorship thing. For the sake of my teammates and my friends and all the guys I’ve met in the years of fighting in the UFC, I hope the Reebok deal turns out to be a positive one for the guys still fighting. But, I am so looking forward to having back a lot more sponsors and for that reason I am thrilled to be in Bellator.
As far as my brand, I’m all about reaching new fans and fans that aren’t necessarily MMA fans and that is something I will be able to do a little bit easier on Spike TV. It opens me up to a little bit different viewership. Definitely the same graphic, but maybe not the same people that are going to sports bars and watching pay-per-views.
Davis mötte senast Ryan Bader under UFC on FOX 14, då han förlorade via domslut.