Last week I spent some time with UFC Light Heavyweight Phil Davis. We discussed the lack of respect the ground game gets from fans. In part two, I share some suggestions the fans have given to stifle ground fighters and Phil takes the questions head-on.
I jump around all the internet forums. Obviously that’s a hotbed for armchair quarterbacks. I’m going to give you some stuff I’ve pulled off these forums. I just want your as-real-as-you-want-to-be reactions to these anti-grappling statements. We’ll start with some mild stuff.
Phil Davis: (Laughs)
The first is the old ELITEXC rule: 20 seconds or so of inactivity on the ground and if there are no major moves, the ref stands the fight back up.
Phil Davis: I think its stupid to put a time limit on it. Twenty seconds is very unreasonable (laughs). You really don’t get a chance to work your proper Jiu Jitsu game. And I’m not even a really deep Jiu Jitsu guy, but you cannot work your Jiu Jitsu game good or great in a 20 or so second span.
This is another mild one: yellow or red cards for inactivity. Now this can work against both strikers and grapplers. Anderson Silva could easily be susceptible to that, but so could a wrestler. How do you feel about that?
Phil Davis: Hmmmm. Interesting. What would they mean exactly?
Yellow would mean that you are stalling action. So that could mean you put a guy on the ground and he is putting in enough work that you can’t advance so the referee makes the judgment call that you’re stalling the fight by holding him there.
Phil Davis: So yellow card means stalling a red card would mean?
A red card means you’re disqualified (for multiple warnings). And in Japan (cards also meant a deduction) from your purse.
Phil Davis: Nah, nah dog. I’m trying to help some people out. That (10% deductions) is a lot.
That is a lot. And that is also something that is dependant on the referee’s subjectivity- if he feels like you’re delaying the fight.
Phil Davis: I think that’s wack.
Now this next one is something that I not only see on forums, but I hear when I’m sitting around watching a fight. Judging a fight based on visible damage. For instance the King Mo fight (against Gegard Mousasi), where King Mo looks more physically damaged at the end of that fight. Some people suggest that he should have lost that fight just based on the fact that his face looked worse. How do you feel about that?
Phil Davis: You should definitely take damage into account, but sometimes if you are going for a submission (or a TKO) you might be taking some damage, it’s a risk. You could just get hit in the face while you’re trying to lock up your submission. I don’t know. Yes and no on that.
I think these first three “suggestions” still fall under judging. They still rely on outside opinion. Now let’s start getting into stuff that is a little strange. This is where people start getting creative.
Phil Davis: (Laughs)
Making the cage larger to make using the fence less of a factor.
Phil Davis: That’s…probably…no. That shouldn’t happen. The cage is large enough. You know what I used to say? Maybe they should make the goals for soccer larger so it’s not as boring and there will be more goals. The soccer goal is big enough (laughs) it is big enough. Trust me if you made the cage any bigger it’s not going to solve anything. It’s a horrible idea (laughs).
Here’s another one. I don’t know where somebody comes up with this: banning picking up an opponent and carrying him to the cage.
Phil Davis: Again, that is a bad idea. Many a people have been knocked out against the cage not using the cage (to your advantage) that would just be stupid.
Gerald Harris just picked a dude up and knocked him out and he ended up on Sportscenter.
Phil Davis: There it is.
I don’t get it Phil.
Phil Davis: If you want boxing, then watch boxing.
If you want kickboxing, watch K-1.
Phil Davis: If you want MMA then watch MMA, but don’t say you want MMA without grappling or cages or ropes or any type of submissions. That really does not make a whole lot of sense. You might as well stick to Youtube videos of people with no gloves.
Speaking of no submissions, this guy, and I’m serious when I read this: banning rear-naked chokes.
Phil Davis: (Phil takes a few moments to laugh) Did he say why?
Because they end fights too often when someone gets another guys back.
Phil Davis: You know what? Okay.
Will you go with him on that?
Phil Davis: I don’t see how I can’t (agree with his reason) they do end a lot of fights (laughs). Let’s ban knockouts before we ban that. That is crazy. Well he’s probably the most knowledgeable fan there is (laughs). I really don’t see where he’s going with that.
Alright, so this suggestion came out right after the Dan Hardy vs. Georges St. Pierre fight. And this guy was dead serious. We should make a new rule that in any championship fight, you are not allowed to go to the ground for the first two rounds.
Phil Davis: I should probably use the most politically correct (response). That is… (laughs) that is very silly. A silly person would say that. Alright I tell you what. That could be reasonable if they could only use their left hand in the first two rounds. Then that would be cool.
Okay, advantage Hardy.
Phil Davis: If you say something crazy like “in championship fights you can only use your left hand in the first two rounds, no going to the ground”, then deal. That’s reasonable (for both fighters) now. So…(laughs) wow. That is some serious restriction. That’s skillful if you can come at somebody only with a cross (laughs).
Well I’ll propose that to that guy.
Phil Davis: (Laughs)
So this is some of what is going out there on the internet. Do you have a message to those people who are less inclined to enjoy the ground game? Is there anything that you want to say, maybe a plea to them, an appeal?
Phil Davis: You know I respect the people who enjoy a good standup fight, so do I. I also enjoy a good grappling fight. (Andre Galvao’s last fight) was a crazy, crazy Jiu Jitsu fight. The fight was already good then every time the fight hit the ground- Andre would get the takedown and try to get the takedown and this guy would sweep him. It was crazy man, just back and forth all the time attempting submissions, getting position. If you can follow the submission or grappling game, it was a great fight.
Phil Davis: If you’re a big fan of MMA, go to a gym take Muay Thai class, take Jiu Jitsu class and everything you see on TV will seem that much more difficult when it’s done to a real person real time. You will appreciate it so much more.
Phil Davis: If you’re a fan of basketball you probably go to the park and shoot some hoops with your friends and you’ll know that its hard to drain a shot from half court.
Before we go Phil, we’ve seen the looks. We’ve seen “Phil”, we’ve seen “Dave”. Will there be any new looks coming?
Phil Davis: (Laughs) You know I can’t really debut too much right now. I can’t talk about them but there’s definitely some new stuff coming down the pipeline. It’s fresh off the presses ya’ll are not gonna see it until it’s in the octagon. But if you do find out about it, it’ll be on Twitter, @PhilMrWonderful.
Anything you want to say otherwise before we take off?
Phil Davis: I appreciate everyone that follows me on Twitter and thanks for all the love and support.
Thank you, Phil. I’d love to do this with you again some time.
Phil Davis: Absolutely.
