Phil Davis Shows Little Interest in Moving Up to Heavyweight for Ryan Bader Trilogy

Phil Davis is in a bit of a purgatory with Bellator MMA at this point in his career.

“Mr. Wonderful” remains the clear-cut No. 2 in the promotion at light heavyweight following his unanimous decision triumph against Julius Anglickas in the Bellator 276 co-main event at the Family Arena in St. Louis, Mo., on Saturday. Unfortunately, there appears to be no clear path to the top of the division as long as Vadim Nemkov is champion, due to Davis’ two decision losses to the reigning title holder.

Another interesting option would seemingly be to move to heavyweight, where former rival Ryan Bader sits atop the division following a grueling title defense against Valentin Moldavsky at Bellator 273 in January. Davis is also 0-2 against Bader by the narrowest of margins, with a pair of split-decision defeats to the Arizona native – one in Bellator and one in the UFC.

At the moment, Davis doesn’t seem too interested in leaving the light heavyweight division. For the time being, Davis is content to simply defeat the next man up.

“I’ve got to go up to heavyweight to fight Bader, and to tell you the truth, he looks fairly unstoppable at heavyweight,” Davis said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “I hate to say it. I hate to say it, but I’m going to call a spade a spade. So if he brings his butt back down, I’ll have my chance.

“Honestly, it’s just about beating whoever’s in front of me. I love fighting, I love preparing, I love training. I want to beat whoever’s in the cage with me.”

Since 2015, Davis’ only four defeats have come at the hands of Nemkov and Bader. When the topic of a move to heavyweight was revisited later in the presser, the 37-year-old Alliance MMA product wouldn’t completely rule out a transition. Still, he admits that light heavyweight is probably the ideal place for him.

“Anything’s possible. If God made him and he walks on two feet, I’ll fight him. But Mr. Bader looks tremendous at heavyweight. I’m very proud of his last fight. He looks like a savage,” Davis said.

“I think I’m better suited for 205. I’ve been this size since I was 17 years old. This is my frame. I’ve added a little bit more meat to my upper body, but this is pretty much my frame. “