Phil Davis Sets Sights On Rematch With Ryan Bader

Phil Davis sets his sights on having a rematch with Bellator heavyweight and light heavyweight champion Ryan Bader.

This comes after Davis beat former champ Liam McGeary by third-round TKO in a light heavyweight contest on the main card of the Bellator 220 event. This contest went down on Saturday night at SAP Center in San Jose, California, and aired on DAZN.

Following the fight, he made it known that he is still interested in reclaiming the light heavyweight title.

“I don’t really know (my path), and I’m not going to pretend like I make decisions, but I do want to put some pressure on the champion,” Davis told MMAJunkie. “He’s a great guy. He’s a great champion, and I’m throughly impressed with him taking his second belt. It takes a special athlete to be able to do that, and I do want to say congratulations to him. But I also want to say, ‘I want that belt.’”

Bellator President Scott Coker has made it known that the current plan is for Bader to defend his heavyweight belt against Cheick Kongo in either August or September. For Davis, he understands the situation but wants to be next in line at light heavyweight.

“You have to take a step back, and you have to be a fan of this sport, and you have to put yourself in the other guy’s shoes,” Davis said. “It takes a lot to do what he did and go up to heavyweight and become a two-division champion. And, furthermore, he beat me to do it.

“I always check my ego at the door. At least I try to. And he wouldn’t be in this position had he not beat me up. So, kudos to him, and I kind of have to take the backseat, wait my turn if I want that fight. But I do want that fight. Nothing wrong with saying you want that fight.”

Bader beat Davis to win the Bellator light heavyweight title in June 2017 at Bellator 180 by split decision.