Issue 149
December 2016
Marcus Davis picks five formative moments in his fighting life - from both inside and outside the cage.
UFC & Bellator veteran,
Alias: The Irish hand grenade,
Retired: February 2014,
Record: 22-11-01.
Before Davis dedicated his hands to MMA aged 30, he had an impressive seven-year career as a pro boxer. ‘The Irish Hand Grenade’ earned a 17-1-2 record competing in the New England area. More than 70% of his wins were by knockout. He retired after his first loss and joined Miletich Fighting Systems.
1: TEEN TOUGH VS. DJ O'BRIEN - AMATEUR BOXING TOURNAMENT (1987)
The first tough lesson of Marcus Davis’ fighting life came at an early age in the boxing ring.
“I was around 13 at the time and 4-0 as an amateur boxer and I agreed to fight this guy who was 60-5 or something,” he says. “He’d fought in the Silver Mittens and Golden Gloves and was a real tall, skinny kid.
"He had the reach and beat the p**s out of me for three rounds. My head looked like a ping pong ball, but he never put me down. It was the first time I went into a boxing match and took a savage beating.
"I realized then I was able to take a punch. It answered a lot of questions.”
2: CLOSE CALL VS. DRUNKEN GANG - MAINE NIGHTCLUB (MID-90s)
“This fight changed my outlook on life. We killed a guy for a second but luckily brought him back to life.
"I was bouncing at a nightclub and this guy started on us as he was leaving the club, so I grabbed his arm and my buddy is choking him out. Next thing the guy turned purple!
"My other buddy starts giving him mouth-to-mouth, at which point this poor guy’s friends come over and suddenly it turns into an all-out brawl.
"Thankfully, the guy comes to, the cops show up and end up macing them and taking them all to jail. It scared me and taught me to be much more responsible.”
3: KICKED TO BITS VS. THIAGO ALVES - HFC2 (10/18/03)
“Alves kicked my leg so bad that back in the locker room I couldn’t walk. My legs were not functional. I had nothing but lumps all over them.
"They had to help me out to the parking lot. I went to the fight without a corner, without anybody.
"Somebody drove me to a Greyhound bus station. I took the bus from Boston to Maine where my ex-wife agreed to meet me and take care of me. It ended up being a f**king 10-hour ride on this bus and then my ex-wife takes me back to her apartment where I lay on a futon for two days before I could walk out of there.
"That was the fight where I thought, ‘Maybe I should learn how to check kicks.’”
4: GRIP ON GRAPPLING VS. JORGE GURGEL - TUF 2 TRAINING (2005)
“When I got on TUF I was still a pure puncher. My hands were so much better than everyone else that I actually spent a lot of time sparring with the heavyweights.
"Randy Couture was on the show and actually wanted to work with me due to my boxing. But my eyes were opened to why the ground was so important. I met Jorge Gurgel and it changed my approach to fighting.
"Jiu-jitsu was a necessity, I learned that on TUF. That’s how profound that experience on The Ultimate Fighter was for me.”
5: ONE NIGHT IN DUBLIN VS. CHRIS LYTLE - UFC 93 (01/17/09)
“Fighting in Dublin was a huge thing for me – a childhood dream come true – but going into it, I was very sick. The day of the weigh-in, I didn’t cut weight. I stayed in bed shivering.
"Somehow I made it to the fight and won a split decision. I cried during the post-fight interview. (Mark) DellaGrotte (coach) and I were bawling backstage.
He said walking me to the cage was like walking someone to death row. He didn’t think it would be possible for me to pull out that performance.
To fight three hard rounds, as sick as I was – that was a huge mental victory for me. But I was never healthy after that fight. Everything deteriorated after that.”
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