Phil Davis vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
Ms. Octagon just referred to the Nogueira bros. as Brazilian punching bags. The nogs have not looked great lately. Last time we saw “Mr. Wonderful” Phil Davis, he finished his opponent with a modified, one-handed kimura.
Round 1- Both fighters tentative and finding range. Wonderful throwing kicks. Phil pushes Nog against the cage and knees the shit out of his leg. Phil shoots for the takedown again and is stuffed. Davis again with the shot and is stuffed again.
Nogueira looking sharper in the boxing. Davis throwing big kicks, but he got caught with a left. Davis goes for the takedown, Nogueira slips, but is able to get back up. Davis shoots again and is stuffed again.
I think that the judges are going to give that one to Davis. It was a close round, but he was on offense the whole time. Nog landed the better shots and stuffed all those takedowns so I am scoring it 10-9, small Nog.
Round 2- Davis throwing a lot of kicks, but it doesn’t look like he is doing much damage with them. Little nog throwing nothing but punches. This fight sucks so far.
Davis shoots again and is thrown off again. Nog lands another punch and a kick to the head. Davis gets a single leg and Nog is on the ground, finally. Davis again not doing much damage. Rogerio kicks Davis off, but Davis takes his back when he tries to get away.
Nog grabs the cage to avoid being taken down, but he is taken down anyway and is getting pounded from behind like the new guy in prison. Shots to the head and then Davis finishes the round up with knees to the body.
10-9 Mr. Wonderful for sure. This is still a close fight, but I would not be surprised if Phil is ahead 20-18 on all cards.
Round 3- Nog has got to pick up the pace a little or he’s losing this decision. He still seems content to hang back and counterpunch. Davis is throwing a lot of kicks, but not very effectively. Shoots a single and takes down Nog. He has to be careful here, but he is very strong and sweaty and it is going to be hard to catch him with something at this stage of the fight.
Nog rolls over and Phil is in his guard again, but Nog is just holding his hands and kicking him off so Phil isn’t able to do too much damage. Nog gets up. Nog is really defending himself impressively against such an elite wrestler, but he needs to do some damage of his own.
Looks like Phil got clipped going in for the single, but he goes in again and gets the takedown. Phil is winning this fight if he can just stay on top for the last two minutes without getting caught. Lands some bodyshots on the veteran. Davis is still in Nog’s guard. Nog going for an arm bar, but it doesn’t look like he is going to get it as time runs out.
That fight stunk, but it was free so we can’t really complain. Phil is going to win it for sure. Both fighters looked like shit on the feet and Nog’s BJJ was enough to help him avoid damage in all but the second round.
30-27 Davis. Davis says he was injured and he took his NO-Xplod before the fight. Looks like he has one of the much-coveted BSN sponsorships that the UFC doles out to fighters as extra compensation.