Phil Davis: Leaving UFC is like breaking up with a girlfriend

Bellator light heavyweight Phil Davis recently took part in a media conference call. Before April this would have read “UFC light heavyweight Phil Davis recently took part in a media conference call.” The fighter had to do the same editing process for all of his social networking.

“I enjoyed changing all of my headings and all my profiles and pictures and such,” said Davis as transcribed by Marc Raimondi for MMAFighting.com. “Some of it is like, ‘Man, I really liked that photo.’ It’s weird. It’s like breaking up with a girlfriend. ‘That was fun while it lasted.'”

One difference with between his old and new employers is that Bellator allows in cage sponsorships form the highest bidder. Under the tiered structure, Davis would have made $10,000 for his next UFC fight. He plans to do better at Bellator.

“It’s hard to say exactly,” said Davis. “But if I were a betting man, I’d put myself in the 99th percentile that I’m going to make more than that. … I’d take those odds in Vegas any day.”

“Reebok’s involvement with the UFC was not the straw that broke the camel’s back. It was not, this could go really wrong or you might miss out on this.

“None of that factored into my decision. It was entirely based on what I do inside the cage.”

What Davis does next inside the cage is a one-night, four-man tournament at Bellator MMA: Dynamite 1 on Sept. 19 in San Jose, with King Mo, Emanuel Newton, and Linton Vassell.

“I don’t consider myself the favorite,” said Davis. “I’m just working. I consider myself the guy who needs to show up and make a statement the most.

“Everybody wants to be ranked in the top 10, top five in the world. Everybody wants to be the best. I’d put myself as a way to get into that elite level of guys.”

“I’ll tell you this: life is good. I am a happy dude. I feel like I re-found my — not that I ever didn’t love training and competing and fighting — but it’s like revised eagerness just to do the same thing every single day.”