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Rashad proved that Phil Davis’ national wrestling titles do not matter when the octagon cage door closes.  Although Rashad did not have the wresting pedigree of Davis,  Rashad stopped the majority of his  take downs, and controlled the octagon with superior striking.

At the end of the round Rashad caught one of Davis’ kicks and dragged him to the floor. From there, he was able to gain a mounted crucifix.  Davis avoided any significant damage by wriggling free from the position just as the round ended.

The second round mirrored the first, especially because it ended almost exactly the same way as Rashad caught Davis’ kick, and rode out the crucifix position to the end of the round.

Davis tried to go back to his bread and butter in the third round, as he attempted to take down rashad multiple times, most of which were nullified. He did score a double leg in the middle of the octagon, but he was not able solidify a dominant position as Rashad inched to the fence and made his way back to his feet.

In the last 2 rounds, Davis looked visibly tired and frustrated as Rashad’s striking continued to be crisper, faster and technical.  Rashad scored at will hitting Davis with most his combinations he threw.

With this win Rashad has solidified a long awaited shot at light heavyweight champion Jon Jones in Atlanta some time in the spring.

MMASucka & TrauMMA Combat Present UFC on Fox: Evans vs. Davis Fight Picks Contest. You have until the start of the event to get your picks in and the rules are below. If you don’t win, don’t worry… Head on over to TrauMMACombat.com and buy some swag of your own. Also follow @TrauMMACombat on Twitter.

To hear UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones speak at the open workouts prior to UFC 140, you would almost expect to hear him end every sentence with “aw shucks.” The ultra-talented champion seems to go out of his way to project a Clark Kent type of image during media events, before turning to Superman inside the cage.

When he became champion, Dana White famously predicted “now we’ll see what this kid is made of, all the hangers-on are going to come out of the woodwork.”  Jones does not disagree but says he has been able to stay grounded.

“Those people are there, I try to treat everyone with respect until they try to pull the wool over my eyes and do something wrong to me… I still have the same girl, same family, same coaches, same best friends, everything’s exactly the same”.

Asked about his opponent, Lyoto Machida, he professes his utmost respect based on qualities he sees in himself. Namely, a love of meditation and being a “true student” of martial arts. He admires Machida also for being the anti-Rampage Jackson.

“No talking junk, being respectful to each other, focused on why we’re supposed to be here”.

The focus, he insists is on his own game plan and not that of his challenger.

“I keep getting asked ‘how crazy is it to prepare for Lyoto?’ But I truly think how crazy is it to prepare for me?”

The only time he drops his veneer of civility is when he is inevitably asked about the upcoming Rashad Evans-Phil Davis fight. He initially picks Evans, though “only because of his experience”. But he is convinced that Davis could win if he felt more comfortable in striking exchanges.

“If he hit Rashad with all that muscle he has, he’d realize Rashad’s chin’s not there…he could very easily beat Rashad, it’s just a matter of him believing in himself.”

So while there may be a dark cloud on the horizon threatening Jones’ humility (although he insists he hasn’t had his character tested since becoming champion), Saturday night will be all about two martial artists entering the octagon and one leaving with the gold championship belt and the all-important winner’s money.

Jones quoted a poet as saying,

“money only intensifies the characteristics you had before you were rich and famous,” before correcting himself “…not that I’m rich or famous.”

A reporter in the scrum asked “didn’t you just buy a Bentley?”  which got a genuine laugh out of the champion and the others within earshot.

“Next question,” he said with a wry smile.

Aw, shucks.

Twitter: @carlinbardsley

Dana White will be heading to Chicago, Il for a special triple header press conference today.The press conference takes place at Chicago’s United Center, which also hosts UFC on FOX on Jan. 28.

In attendance will be UFC President Dana White, main event fighters Rashad Evans and Phil Davis, co-main event fighters Chael Sonnen and Mark Munoz. Also expected to be in attendance are just announced fighters Michael Bisping and Demian Maia.

Watch the press conference live stream here at 11am PT/2pm ET.

It looks like the UFC thought that a fight between Phil Davis and  Rashad Evans “Still makes sense” too. The fight was reported by ESPN’s Brett Okamoto late Tuesday evening, stating that multiple sources had confirmed the bout.

This fight was originally scheduled to go down at UFC 133, however Davis had to pull out due to a knee injury. Evans then defeated replacement Tito Ortiz. The two are now scheduled to fight at UFC on Fox 2 on Jan. 28 at the United Center in Chicago. Look for this to be the main event of the card.

Evans (16-1-1) who is riding a three fight winning streak will look to keep his place as the number one contender in the light heavyweight division. He was supposed to fight Jon Jones following his victory over Ortiz, however he had to postpone that fight due to a hand injury. Jones is now set to defend his belt against Lyoto Machida at UFC 140 on Dec.10.

Davis (9-0) will look to make his amazing record even better when he faces off against his toughest test, the former champ. He is coming off a unanimous decision victory over Antonio Rogerio Nogueira back in March at UFC Fight Night. With a key victory over Evans, Davis would more than likely be next in line for a title shot.

Phil “Mr. Wonderful” Davis has not fought in the UFC since back in March where he beat Antônio Rogério Nogueira to extend his unbeaten streak to nine. He came in to the UFC in February of 2010 and has since beat the likes of Brian Stann, Alexander Gustafsson, Rodney Wallace, Tim Boetsch and the above mentioned “Little Nog”.

Davis has been nursing an injury bug since his last fight. He was originally expected to face Rashad Evans back at UFC 133, but was forced to withdraw from the high profile fight due to a knee injury. He was then expected to face Lyoto Machida at UFC 140, however, shortly after it was revealed that he was still recovering from the knee injury.

“Mr. Wonderful” recently spoke with  MMAWeekly.com and stated that the Rashad Evans fight still “makes sense”.

That may be a fight that makes sense. He’s still a top five guy, definitely one of the best guys in the world, we’ll see what happens. If that fight gets made, that’s still pretty cool. I’d like that. I personally don’t know or care, cause the great thing about me is you can give me somebody in the top five, or the top ten, or you can give me somebody not in the top ten, and I’m still confident that I’m going to win regardless. If you want to pay me not to fight someone not in the top ten, cool. Let me know what’s next. I don’t make the decisions and I don’t pretend that I do. - Transcribed by MMAMania.com