Marcus Davis

Background

Davis was born in Houlton, Maine and raised in Bangor, Maine by his single mother along with his brother, Brad who is six years older than Marcus. Davis was troubled growing up, often getting into fights, and was also stabbed twice, shot at on more than one occasion and witnessed rapes at a young age. He began karate when he was eight years old because there was no boxing gyms in his town but would eventually start boxing when he was 14 years old, having his first amateur match later that year. Davis became a professional boxer when he was 18 years old, and attended Bangor High School. At the age of 19 Davis began his career with a second round TKO of Luis Guzman in April 1993 and compiled a professional record of 17–1–2 over the next seven years on the New England circuit, where he fought primarily as a Junior-Middleweight. In his last fight as a boxer, he suffered a TKO loss to 34-year-old Ed Bryant which led him to reconsider his future as a successful boxer. He then became excited with the challenge of mixed martial arts, much to the bemusement of his peers. He retired from boxing after the TKO loss in October 2000. In 1995, Davis, then based in Massachusetts, began training in grappling with Joe Maffei. In 1997, he moved back to Bangor and opened up an MMA school, while running a bar. The doormen took classes at the school, one of whom was Tim Sylvia. After Sylvia joined Miletich Fighting Systems in 2000, Davis quickly followed. More recently, Davis has trained with Mark Dellagrotte and his own team in Bangor, Team Sityodtong.

Early career

Davis entered professional MMA on August 22, 2003, with a first-round TKO of Shaun Gay. Though later describing himself as "one-dimensional", Davis was able to put together a 3–2 professional record.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

In 2005, Marcus was a contestant on The Ultimate Fighter 2. Coming in with reputed boxing skills, he picked Joe Stevenson in episode four in what proved to be a mismatch, as Davis was quickly taken down by the eventual winner and submitted. He was later brought back in episode ten to cover for Jason Von Flue, who suffered a cut on his forehead in practice, though Von Flue's cut was healed enough in time to fight. Marcus fought on the undercard of the finale, where he lost to Melvin Guillard.

Following the series, Davis strongly considered retirement but recuperated from a shoulder injury picked up against Joe Stevenson and went back to MMA training. Davis subsequently bounced back with 11 wins, including a triumphant return to the UFC at Ortiz vs. Shamrock 3: The Final Chapter.

In Davis' fight against Paul Taylor at UFC 75 in London, England he was knocked down by a high kick to the neck, but was able to recover, gain a dominant position, and secure an armbar as Taylor desperately scrambled to regain control. Marcus won Fight of the night as well as submission of the night for that fight. For earning the submission and fight of the night awards, he was awarded $80,000 in bonuses. His next fight was a highlight-reel knockout win against fierce rival Jess Liaudin at UFC 80 in Newcastle, England.

Marcus Davis lost a very one sided unanimous decision to Mike Swick at UFC 85, ending his six fight undefeated streak in the octagon and eleven fight winning streak in MMA. He got back to winning ways with a submission victory over England's Paul Kelly at UFC 89.

Davis' fought Chris Lytle at UFC 93 on January 17, 2009. Both fighters are former boxers and had discussed a potential fight in their futures since early 2008. Lytle called out Davis at UFC 89. He suggested that the fight take place in Ireland, where Davis had gained a substantial following due to his emphasis on his Irish roots. Leading up to the event, both fighters promised to stand and trade blows for the entire fight, rather than engage in grappling. Lytle managed to stun Davis several times, but Davis used superior footwork, counter-punching, and kicks to win a split decision. The bout shared Fight of the Night honors with the Coleman/Rua co-main event, earning Davis a $40,000 bonus.

Davis fought on June 13, 2009, against up and coming striker Dan Hardy. The fight became personal when Hardy took offense to Davis defeating British-based fighters in Britain. Hardy called Davis a "fake Irishman" and a "Plastic Paddy", and said his website "looked like a St. Patrick's day parade had blown up". Then on Cagewarriors.com, Hardy posted photos of Davis which resulted in many being edited in "humorous" fashions by forum users. Some of these edits included homosexual imagery, which touched a nerve with Davis and increased the ill-feeling between the two. Hardy won the fight via a narrow and controversial split decision. After the fight, Davis expressed his anger at the decision, stating, "I won the fight. I won 12 minutes of the fight and they gave it to him? You bet I want a rematch, right away."

Davis suffered his first knock out loss by Ben Saunders due to knee on November 21, 2009, at UFC 106. This knockout loss resulting in Davis receiving a medical suspension of up to six months because of a broken nose.

Davis fought Jonathan Goulet at UFC 113. He won via TKO due to punches in the second round.

Davis lost to Nate Diaz on August 28, 2010, at UFC 118 via technical submission (guillotine choke) in the third round.

In an interview with MMA Junkie.com Davis confirmed he would drop to the Lightweight division for his next UFC appearance and said he made the decision after the realization that his frame is better suited for 155 pounds. Davis also confirmed that he was contemplating retirement stating "I'm going to finish out my career at 155 and try to entertain some people along the way before my old ass retires," Davis also stated "That's where I'm normally and naturally going to be, so that's where I'm going to fight right now," he said of the 155-pound lightweight division. "It does make more sense that I should be able to compete better at that weight for the fact that the weight difference isn't going to be so dramatic."

Davis fought Jeremy Stephens on January 1, 2011 at UFC 125. After a back and forth fight which saw Davis getting an edge on the judges' scorecards, he was knocked out by a counter right hook at 2:33 of the third round.

On January 6, 2011 it was announced that Davis had been released by the UFC after losing four out of his last five bouts.

Maximum Fighting Championship

It was announced that Davis signed a contract with the Maximum Fighting Championship company, and had signed on to fight Curtis Demarce at MFC 29. He won the fight via split decision. Davis returned at MFC 30, defeating Pete Spratt by unanimous decision in a rematch of their bout from UFC 69.

Independent promotions

Davis was scheduled to face Josh Hersey on September 23 at Global Fight League 13: Heavy Hitters in Portland, Maine, but Hersey pulled out of the bout due to a knee injury and was replaced by Travis Coyle. Davis defeated Coyle via submission in the first round. Davis fought Ultimate Fighter 13 alumnus Chuck O'Neil in a Welterweight bout at W-1 Reloaded in Miami, Florida on October 15. The bout was to be the co-main event but was later promoted to the main event after Jeff Monson pulled out of his fight with Gabriel Gonzaga. Davis lost by split decision.

Davis was scheduled to fight Matt Lee at Century Fighting Championship: Davis vs. Lee on March 31, 2012 in Salem, New Hampshire. However the event was postponed.

On May 6, 2012, Davis turned his hand to kickboxing to challenge Mark Casserly for the ISKA World Light Cruiserweight (-84.6 kg/186.5 lb) Oriental Championship in Dublin, Ireland, losing by head-kick knockout in round one.

Davis replaced Karo Parisyan and faced David Bielkheden at Superior Challenge 8 on October 6, 2012 in Malmo, Sweden. He won by unanimous decision.

Davis fought against Darrius Heyliger on May 18, 2013 at NEF 7. Davis defeated Heyliger via unanimous decision.

Following his loss to Alexander Sarnavskiy, Davis faced Ryan Sanders at NEF: Fight Night 12 on February 8, 2014. In a shocking upset, Davis lost the fight via doctor stoppage TKO.

Bellator MMA

Davis made his Bellator debut on March 21, 2013 at Bellator 93 against Waachiim Spiritwolf. The bout ended in a no contest when Davis hit Spiritwolf with an inadvertent knee to the groin in the first round and he could not continue.

Davis faced Alexander Sarnavskiy on September 27, 2013 at Bellator 101 in the Quarterfinals of Bellator's Season Nine Lightweight Tournament. He lost via rear-naked choke submission in the first round.

A comment was made via Marcus Davis' YouTube account that he would be retiring in 2014.

Other media

Davis appeared on Total Nonstop Action Wrestling's weekly television program Impact! and at the Lockdown pay-per-view event in April 2008 as Samoa Joe's personal trainer for his TNA World Heavyweight Championship match against Kurt Angle. He also presented the winner of the match with the TNA Championship. In November 2010, Davis received a Legislative Sentiment sponsored by State Representative Chris Greeley of Maine, for his success as a fighter and for the recognition and attention he's brought to both the state of Maine, and the sport of mixed martial arts as a whole. (Greeley started training with Davis and Team Irish in January 2011.) Davis also co-hosts a weekly radio program, Pull No Punches Radio, every Friday night. He appeared on Season 2 of Doomsday Preppers as an MMA instructor.

Personal life

Davis is three times married and twice divorced. He has four children. Davis' family comes from Waterford, Ireland. Aside from fighting and boxing, Davis has managed bars, night clubs, and used to work as a bouncer.

Mixed martial arts