"The guy keeps running his mouth and he reminds me a lot of when I fought Jess Liaudin, but he's pushing it further. If the UFC makes that fight, I will be looking forward to itÂ… he can't stand and trade with me. He won't stand and trade with me because he would be on his back and if he's on his back, then I would be on top smashing his face into dust like I said before," stated UFC welterweight Marcus Davis as he talked about a potential clash with Dan Hardy. Check it out!
PC: I haven't talked to you in awhile so congrats on the Lytle win.
MD: Thanks!
PC: I saw a jab-elbow in that fight from you. Where did that come from?
MD: That's a Mark DellaGrotte thing.
PC: Dan Hardy has come out publicly and called you out to fight. Where does it stem from, do you know?
MD: I have no idea. He's one of those guys that's looking to build his name and stir up things. He's all Hollywood and stuff so whatever.
PC: Are you hoping the UFC makes this fight for UFC 99?
MD: Yeah! I'm hoping. The guy keeps running his mouth and he reminds me a lot of when I fought Jess Liaudin, but he's pushing it further. If the UFC makes that fight, I will be looking forward to it.
PC: Aside from the talk, what do you think of him as a fighter? What did you think of his performance against Rory Markham?
MD: I'm not going to judge him on the Markham fight; it was just he caught him with a punch because Rory's hands were down and the fights Rory has lost was by TKO. He's been knocked out before. I think this made four times. I would rather judge him as a whole on all of his fights he's had. I think he's a talented kid. He's more of a stand-up fighter than a grappler, but I know he's working on that. He has good kicks and I know he was talking about his punching power and he's riding high on the fact that he just knocked out Rory Markham, but he's got normal power in his punches, like an average MMA fighter, but he doesn't have my kind of power in his punches and he'll find that out if we fight.
PC: He's confident that he could stand and trade with you. Do you think that would be wise for him?
MD: I think that he's smoking crack because he can't stand and trade with me. He won't stand and trade with me because he would be on his back and if he's on his back, then I would be on top smashing his face into dust like I said before. He's a talented fighter, but I'm a better fighter. I've heard him take shots at my speed or whatever, that I'm not that quick. Well, whatever; we'll find out. I'm fast enough to catch him. He's had two fights in the UFC and won't shut his mouth. I saw something where he was ripping St. Pierre.
PC: He still hasn't fought outside of the UK and from what I understand, that's why you want to fight him in Germany, correct?
MD: Yeah! I want to fight him in Germany because I'm sick and tired of fighting all these UK guys in the UK where I'm the bad guy all of the time. The difference between he and I is, like you said, he has fought in the UK; the comforts of home. I'm always on the road. I've never fought in my hometown. MMA is illegal in the state of Maine. It hasn't been a UFC show in New England since I've been a UFC fighter. I'm the road warrior so let's go to Germany and let's get it done and see if he could do what he's saying. I'm not really convinced that he's really that good.
PC: You've got back on a win streak since the shoulder issues and the Swick loss. Do you feel like the old Marcus Davis is back?
MD: Yeah. Unfortunately, when you're 35 and still fighting, you're never 100%. You always have some kind of stupid injury. I've been lucky in the last twp fights that the little nagging things that I've had haven't affected my performance. I've got two wins over two decent guys. I have a win over a veteran and someone brand new to the sport with only 10 fights and a win over a guy with more than 50 fights. I have both spectrums, a young buck and a hard veteran. Things are going good right now and hopefully Dan Hardy is next and then I will move on to bigger and better things like guys in the top 10.
PC: Good luck this year. I hope they make the Hardy fight. Is there anything you want to say in closing?
MD: I want to thank everybody in the UK for supporting me. I know they're going to be behind their boy because that's what you do, but when it's all said and done, I will be back to fight in the UK and hopefully they'll be behind me then.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]