Manager Alex Davis Discusses Amanda Ribas’ Last Bout, UFC 274 Scale Controversy

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Alex Davis, who was one of the founding members of American Top Team, recently moved to Las Vegas to open ATT Nevada.

The move benefits his role as manager, considering Las Vegas is the fight capital of the world. However, things have not been easy for Davis’ clients the past two weeks, first with Norma Dumont at UFC 274 and then last week, with Amanda Ribas’ move to flyweight against Katlyn Chookagian. Ribas ended up losing via unanimous decision in a “Fight of the Night”-winning bout, and afterward revealed that she fought with a ruptured biceps tendon in her left arm.

"Amanda is an unbelievable warrior, a little samurai. I am extremely proud of her,” Davis told Sherdog.com.

Davis said it was never a consideration for Ribas to withdraw from the bout.

"Her injury was not threatening nor was it something that would keep her out of the fight,” Davis said. “Yes, it was an injury that put her at a disadvantage but she decided to fight through it. MMA is an extreme sport. And it is very common for fighters to overcome injuries and stay in fights.

“Athletic commissions conduct basic exams to make sure fighters do not have any serious issues that would warrant them from being pulled from a fight. At the end of the day, fighters do not have monthly incomes, they get paid for fights, so they are the ones who make the final decision.”

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One week prior, Dumont dealt with the same scale controversy that affected ex-lightweight champion Charles Oliveira at UFC 274. Dumont missed weight ahead of her clash with Macy Chiasson by 0.5 pounds.

"In 21 years as manager I have never faced an issue like this,” Davis said. “I witnessed everything that happened with Charles and Norma . The fact is that there was a difference between UFC test scale and the official Arizona commission one. When it was discovered, it was fixed but the harm had already been done.

“Norma called right before going to bed, informing me she had three pounds to go, and would finish the cut in the morning. She expected to lose approximately another pound by morning in her sleep. She woke up at 6 a.m. and checked that she was 2.5 over. She restarted the weight loss process  for about two hours, reached the weight on her personal scale in the room, but when she returned to check she was overweight by the same 2.5 pounds,” Davis continued. “A similar thing happened to Charles. With athletes like Charles and Norma, who have difficult weight cuts, this difference is huge. Both paid for an error that was not theirs. They still tried to get down to the correct weight but ran out of time.  Both fighters lost 30 percent of their purse and Charles lost his title and what would have been a performance bonus. I find this simply bizarre, and I hope I never witness something like this ever again.”

  Davis was Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira’s first manager and has also counted the likes of Antonio Silva, John Lineker, Thiago Silva, Edson Barboza, and Thiago Santos among his clients.   Davis has followed the evolution of the sport since 1999, when it was still called No Holds Barred in the U.S. and Vale Tudo in Brazil. Recognizing the evolution of MMA, Davis believes some simple changes could benefit the sport a lot.

"Nobody understands the sport better than the fighters and the trainers. It’s a huge pool of knowledge,” he said. “I find it extremely unfortunate that the commissions are not listening to them, letting them provide input. I find this to be an arrogant attitude on the commissions’ part. Ninety percent of trainers and athletes don’t even understand how they are being judged and what the judges are looking for in order to score the fight. There needs to be discussion on these issues, and the fighters and trainers should be included in the discussion.

“And there are so many other issues that should be discussed. The other day I found out that some of these commissions receive a percentage of the promotion’s revenues. How could that be? How can a regulating body be getting a percentage? In my mind that turns a commission into a partner of what it should be regulating.”

In Davis' opinion, it´s also time for the sport to have a code of conduct, not only for fighters, but also trainers and managers. 

“I think that there should also be a code of ethics imposed by the governing bodies on the participants like corners and managers. I see so many instances with managers acting as second corners, or when that cornerman (Tony Kelley) in last weekend's fight included racial slurs in his cornering. This is an extreme sport. MMA is also about respect. Respect of the rules, respect for the people participating, respect to everyone. This respect is what differentiates it from a blood sport that the commissions were put in place to avoid.”

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC Fight Night 206 “Holm vs. Vieira” live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app.