Marcus Davis
From FightWiki
 |
Name | Marcus Davis |
| Nickname | The Irish Hand Granade | |
| Association | Team Sityodtong | |
| Weight Class | Welterweight (170 lbs.) | |
| Height | 5' 10" (178 cm) | |
| Style | Boxing | |
| Birth Date | August 24, 1973 | |
| Fighting Out Of | Bangor, Maine | |
| Country | USA | |
| Marcus Davis Pictures | Davis' Official Site |
Marcus Paul Davis nicknamed "The Irish Hand Grenade" (and "The Celtic Warrior" while fighting in Northern Ireland), is an Irish mixed martial artist. He currently fights as a welterweight in the UFC and in independent MMA promotions in the United States. He was a contestant on The Ultimate Fighter 2 on Spike TV.
Contents |
Professional Record
| Record | 17 - 7 - 0 (Win – Loss – Draw) |
| Wins | 6 (T)KOs 8 Submissions 3 Decisions |
| Losses | 2 (T)KOs 2 Submissions 3 Decisions |
| Result | Opponent | Method | Event Title | Date | Round | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | Nate Diaz | Technical Submission (Guillotine Choke) | UFC 118: Edgar vs. Penn 2 | 8/28/2010 | 3 | 4:02 | Won Fight of the Night Honors |
| Win | Jonathan Goulet | TKO (Punches) | UFC 113: Machida vs. Shogun 2 | 5/08/2010 | 2 | 1:23 | |
| Loss | Ben Saunders | KO (Knee and Punches) | UFC 106: Ortiz vs. Griffin II | 11/21/2009 | 1 | 3:24 | |
| Loss | Dan Hardy | Decision (Split) | UFC 99: The Comeback | 6/13/2009 | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Win | Chris Lytle | Decision (Split) | UFC 93: Franklin vs. Henderson | 1/17/2009 | 3 | 5:00 | Won Fight of the Night Honors |
| Win | Paul Kelly | Submission (Guillotine Choke) | UFC 89: Bisping vs. Leben | 10/18/2008 | 2 | 2:16 | |
| Loss | Mike Swick | Decision (Unanimous) | UFC 85: Bedlam | 6/07/2008 | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Win | Jess Liaudin | KO (Punch) | UFC 80: Rapid Fire | 1/19/2008 | 1 | 1;04 | |
| Win | Paul Taylor | Submission (Armbar) | UFC 75: Champion vs. Champion | 9/08/2007 | 1 | 4:14 | Won Fight of the Night and Submission of the Night Honors |
| Win | Jason Tan | KO (Punch) | UFC 72: Victory | 6/16/2007 | 1 | 1:15 | Won Knock Out of the Night Honors |
| Win | Pete Spratt | Submission (Achilles Lock) | UFC 69: Shootout | 4/07/2007 | 2 | 2:57 | |
| Win | Shonie Carter | Decision (Unanimous) | UFC Fight Night 7 | 12/13/2006 | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Win | Forrest Petz | Submission (Guillotine Choke) | UFC: The Final Chapter | 10/10/2006 | 1 | 4:58 | |
| Win | Mike Vaughn | Submission (Armbar) | Wild Bill's: Fight Night 4 | 9/08/2006 | 1 | 4:14 | |
| Win | Jason Hathaway | TKO | Wild Bill's: Fight Night 3 | 7/14/2006 | 1 | N/A | |
| Win | Doug Gordon | Decision (Unanimous) | CFFC 1: Cage Fury Fighting Championships 1 | 6/30/2006 | 3 | N/A | |
| Win | Craig Gunder | Submission (Guillotine Choke) | CZ 16: In the Cage 2 | 5/13/2006 | 1 | N/A | |
| Win | Andy Normington | Submission (Neck Crank) | CZ 14: In the Cage | 4/08/2006 | 1 | 1:41 | |
| Loss | Melvin Guillard | TKO (Cut) | The Ultimate Fighter 2 Finale | 11/05/2005 | 2 | 2:55 | |
| Win | Renat Myzabekov | Technical Submission (Armbar) | CZ 10: Ground War | 4/02/2005 | 1 | 1:19 | |
| Win | Shawn Gay | TKO | CZ 7: Gravel Pit | 7/10/2004 | 1 | 1:33 | |
| Loss | Nuri Shakir | Submission (Rear Naked Choke) | MMA: Eruption | 4/30/2004 | 3 | 2:38 | |
| Loss | Thiago Alves | Decision (Split) | HFC 2: Hardcore Fighting Championships 2 | 10/18/2003 | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Win | Shawn Gay | TKO | ISCF: Friday Night Fights | 8/22/2003 | 1 | 2:09 | |
Biography
Boxing Career
Marcus began Boxing at 14, turning pro at the age of 19 with a second round TKO of Luis Guzman in April 1993. He compiled a professional record of 17-1-2 over the next seven years on the New England circuit. In his last fight as a boxer, he suffered a TKO loss to 34 year old Ed Bryant which led him to reconsider his future as a successful boxer. He then became excited with the challenge of mixed martial arts, much to the bemusement of his peers. Considered on the cusp of the big-time as the number one ranked super middleweight in New England before losing to Ed Bryant, he retired from boxing after the TKO loss in October 2000.
Martial Arts Background
Prior to Boxing, Marcus did martial arts from the age of eight. In 1995, Davis, then based in Massachusetts, started grappling training with Joe Maffei. In 1997, he moved back to Bangor and opened up an MMA school, while running a bar. The doormen took classes at the school, one of whom was Tim Sylvia. After Tim joined Miletich Fighting Systems in 2000, Marcus quickly followed. More recently, he has trained with Mark Dellagrotte and his own team in Bangor, Team Irish. He also frequently visits Jorge Gurgel's main MMA academy in West Chester, Ohio. He and Gurgel struck up a friendship on The Ultimate Fighter 2.
Mixed Martial Arts Career
Marcus Davis entered professional MMA on August 22, 2003 with a first round TKO of Shaun Gay. Though later describing himself as "one-dimensional", he put together a 3-2 pro MMA record.
In 2005, Marcus was a contestant on The Ultimate Fighter 2. Coming in with reputed Boxing skills, he picked Joe Stevenson in episode four in what proved to be a mismatch, as Davis was quickly taken down by the eventual winner and submitted. He was later brought back in episode 10 to cover for Jason Von Flue, who suffered a cut on his forehead in practice, though Von Flue's cut was healed enough in time to fight. Marcus fought on the undercard of the finale, where he lost to Melvin Guillard.
Following the series, Davis strongly considered retirement but recuperated from a shoulder injury picked up against Joe Stevenson and went back to MMA training. He has subsequently bounced back with 11 wins, including a triumphant return to the UFC at Ortiz vs. Shamrock 3: The Final Chapter. He now considers himself a mixed martial artist and not a boxer fighting in MMA.
In Davis' fight against Paul Taylor at UFC 75 in London, England he was knocked down by a kick to the neck, but was able to recover, gain a dominant position, and secure an armbar as Taylor desperately scrambled to regain control. Marcus won Fight of the Night as well as Submission of the Night for that fight. For earning the submission and fight of the night awards, he was awarded $80,000 in bonuses. His next fight was a KO win against Jess Liaudin at UFC 80 in Newcastle, England.
Marcus Davis lost against Mike Swick at UFC 85 by unanimous decision, ending his six-fight undefeated streak in the octagon and eleven-fight winning streak in MMA. He got back to winning ways with a submission victory over England's Paul Kelly at UFC 89 and split decision victory over Chris Lytle at UFC 93 in Dublin, Ireland.
Davis' latest fight was on January 17, 2009, against Chris Lytle at UFC 93. Both fighters are former boxers and had discussed a potential fight in their futures since early 2008. Lytle called out Davis at UFC 89. He suggested that the fight take place in Ireland, where Davis had garned a substantial following due to his emphasis on his Irish roots. Leading up to the event, both fighters promised to stand and trade blows for the entire fight, rather than engage in grappling. Lytle managed to stun Davis several times, but Davis used superior footwork, counterpunching, and kicks to win a split decision. The bout shared Fight of the Night honors with the Coleman/Rua co-main event, earning Davis a $40,000 bonus.
Fight with Hardy
Davis fought on June 13, 2009 against Dan Hardy. The fight began getting personal when Davis started fighting in the UK against English fighters defeating them all in spectacular fashion. Hardy stated it was his home and he did not want Davis in it, building a fan base. Hardy later started insulting Davis calling him a fake Irishman and saying his website looked like a St. Patrick's day parade blown up. Then on Cagewarriors.com, Hardy posted pictures of Davis asking them to be photoshopped, resulting in many edited in a 'humourous' fashions. Some of these edits included homosexual imagery, which touched a nerve with Davis and increased the ill-feeling between the two. Dan Hardy won the fight via a narrow split decision after a 3 round battle. After the fight, Davis expressed his anger at the decision, stating "I won the fight, I won 12 minutes of the fight and they gave it to him? You bet I want a rematch, right away."
Post-UFC 99
After losing to Hardy, Davis returned at UFC 106: Ortiz vs. Griffin II on November 21, 2009 to face off against Ben Saunders, who was coming off a loss to Mike Swick. Davis would go on to be defeated in the first round due to knees and punches, making Saunders the first and only person to KO Davis to date.
- "The game plan originally was to jump right on him, to give him no room at all, get in his face and smother everything and overwhelm him with speed on the inside. But I wasn’t able to do that ... I’ve worked with guys that were 6-foot-3, 6-foot-4, but he just seemed much taller. I don’t know why, but his reach and his height just seemed to be much taller. To be honest, I thought it was going to be a very easy fight and I was completely wrong. That was shocking to me. I did think it was going to be easy because I felt as though I had enough experience and because he was so thin, it was going to be easy to overpower him. I don’t know what’s next. I have no idea. I don’t know what the UFC is going to do," stated a dejected Marcus Davis.
On a two fight slide, Davis was in much need of a win, and he was later scheduled to face off against Canadian Jonathan Goulet in Montreal, Canada at UFC 113: Machida vs. Shogun. After a closely contested first round, Davis used a perfectly placed right hand to drop his opponent in the opening seconds of the next frame. Goulet briefly recovered but the crashed to the mat for a final time when Davis unloaded a vicious uppercut. The former boxer followed Goulet to the mat and connected with additional blows until referee Phillipe Chartrier halted the action at the 1:23 mark of the round, giving Davis the win by way of TKO (Punches).
Looking to build a win streak, Davis next faced Nick Diaz, who had recently moved up in weight to compete at Welterweight, on August 27, 2010 at UFC 118: Edgar vs. Penn 2. Davis was cut early above the right eye with a slicing left hook and spent three rounds trying to fight a game Diaz with his one good eye. Davis continually wiped away blood as Diaz used a traditional game plan with a steady stream of strikes. "The Irish Hand Grenade" kept things even through two rounds. By the third round, with his eye blown up from a hematoma and bleeding profusely, Davis probably couldn't even see Diaz's final takedown. Davis tried to escape once on the mat, but Diaz quickly slapped on a tight Guillotine Choke. Referee Yves Lavigne halted the bout at the 4:02 mark of the final frame with Davis clearly out cold. The fight went on to win the Fight of the Night Honors.
Personal Life
Marcus is twice married and twice divorced. He has four children, Monica, Alexis, Emma, and Duncan. His family comes from Waterford, Ireland.
Ranks and Titles
- 32-2 as an amateur boxer
- Former USKBA MMA champion, former USBF regional boxing champion
- Black belt in Choi Shin Do
