Marcus Davis set to make lightweight debut against Jeremy Stephens at UFC 125
It was a fight both of them asked for, and both of them are going to get. Veteran mixed martial artist Marcus “The Irish Hand Grenade” Davis is going to make his debut at lightweight (155lb) against Jeremy
“Lil’ Heathen” Stephens at UFC 125 on 1 January 2011, according to mmajunkie.com
Davis (17-7) has fought his entire Ultimate Fighting Championships career at welterweight (170lb) and named Stephens as one of his desired opponents in his new division. Upon hearing that, Stephens took to
Twitter to publicly ask for the fight.
“@UFC I see Marcus Davis is droppn [sic] to 155. Please give me that fight! No disrespect, but I don’t think Marcus will RUN like my last opponent,” said Stephens.
Stephens (18-6) was referring to his last fight against Melvin Guillard at UFC 119. The two lightweights were known for their willingness to stand and trade blows and the fight was pegged ahead of time as
a potential fight of the year candidate. Instead, Guillard fought cagily, darting in and out of range and trying to outpoint Stephens, with Stephens losing a very close split decision.
Davis, a former professional boxer, is also known as a fighter who tries to win using his hands, with 12 of his 17 wins coming by knock-out. He is also coming off a loss, in front of a home crowd in Boston
at UFC 118, getting picked apart by the longer reach of Nate Diaz before falling to a third-round submission. He’ll have to deal with the youth of Stephens, who at age 24 could be one of the division’s rising stars if he’s able to develop his ground game.
Davis is 37 and after losing to Diaz admitted he was no longer seeking a title shot, but rather looking to wind down his career with a few fan-friendly bouts.
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