"The game plan originally was to jump right on him, to give him no room at all, get in his face and smother everything and overwhelm him with speed on the inside. But I wasn’t able to do that ... I’ve worked with guys that were 6-foot-3, 6-foot-4, but he just seemed much taller. I don’t know why, but his reach and his height just seemed to be much taller. To be honest, I thought it was going to be a very easy fight and I was completely wrong. That was shocking to me. I did think it was going to be easy because I felt as though I had enough experience and because he was so thin, it was going to be easy to overpower him. I don’t know what’s next. I have no idea. I don’t know what the UFC is going to do."
Seems like Marcus just got a pretty big wake up call. Although his record in the UFC is good, he doesn't have very many wins over big name opponents. I think there is still a future for him in the UFC, he'll just never be a contender in that stacked weight class.
Davis/Markham Davis/Grant Davis/Burns
would all be good matchups for him
Last edited 11/29/09 1:35PM by xdanish020 Edit note/reason: n/a
This is why you never take a fight lightly. Not to take anything away from Saunders, but Marcus could have won that fight with a better game plan and a little respect for his opponent.
Listening to his strategy makes it apparent he was going to lose. He would have been better off keeping distance. Although Saunders has a reach advantage he isn't a great striker on the outside. His height, size and technique make him a terror in close with his clinch. Marcus also thought he was skinny. Which Ben Saunders is he looking at? We're not talking about Corey Hill, tall but way to thin. Ben Saunders is tall, thick, and well muscled. Marcus should have boxed him at a distance or tried to get it to the mat.
As soon as i heard this matchup i was thinking Saunders all the way.........I don't know what all the hype surrounding Davis is about........Sure the dude is a solid fighter, but when u look at that fight on paper Saunders had all the advantages.....
"To be honest, I thought it was going to be a very easy fight and I was completely wrong"
Thats not really a excuse, its more Davis saying Saunders is a tough guy. He's never made excuses before and I don't think he is now.
I don't know maybe your interpretation is different, but to me when a fighter says he thought it was going to be an easy fight usually means he took the fighter lightly, maybe didn't train as hard, etc.
I'm not saying he isn't giving Saunders credit, he clearly is...but he also clearly says he thought it would be an easy fight.
It is an excuse and it's pathetic. It's a backwards way of saying he didn't train hard for his easy fight and that's the reason he lost. The real reason he lost is that Saunders kicked his ass.
Excuse: 1 a : to make apology for b : to try to remove blame from 2 : to forgive entirely or disregard as of trivial import : regard as excusable <graciously excused his tardiness> 3 a : to grant exemption or release to <was excused from jury duty> b : to allow to leave <excused the class> 4 : to serve as excuse for : justify <nothing can excuse such neglect> source
It sounds like an excuse to me as the guy said above in that it seems more like Davis is saying he didn't train or game plan properly and that is why he lost. At the very same time he does accept that blame without trying to be excused when he says he doesn't know whats next and doesn't know what the UFC will do. So with all the definitions of the word excuse we come to sort of a gray area or an impasse of sorts. Either way I would like to continue seeing Marcus Davis in the UFC but would really like to see him diversify and evolve a bit more. It would be really cool to see Davis elevate his game. The guy is already an awesome fighter, but something isn't working for him right now. Maybe a change in camp is in order.
He pretty clearly says what his game plan was and that it didn't work. He also goes on to say that He is better at using his size then any of the guys he sparred with at that size.
