Phil Davis: Daniel Cormier is going to 'beat up' on Jon Jones
No one will ever accuse Phil Davis of being the biggest fan of UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones.
Prior to his last loss to Anthony Johnson earlier this year, Davis was doing everything he could to get under Jones' skin to hopefully set up a title bout between the two at some point in the future. Davis got knocked back a few notches with the defeat, but that doesn't mean he doesn't still want to get his hands on Jones one day.
Following Davis' loss and a subsequent injury to his teammate Alexander Gustafsson, it was Daniel Cormier who got the call to face Jones in early 2015.
So it wasn't exactly a coincidence that Davis left his home in San Diego and traveled a few hours north to San Jose where he worked with the American Kickboxing Academy for a couple of weeks. The San Jose based team also just happens to be where Cormier trains as well.
For Davis it was a chance to spar and train with some of the best fighters in and around his weight class, but he certainly didn't mind adding an extra body to help Cormier get ready for Jones.
"I spent some time up in San Jose working with Daniel Cormier and trained with the fellas up there. Daniel's not super similar as far as his fighting style, but just his height and range is similar to Glover (Teixeira) so he's a good fighter to work with," Davis told FOX Sports.
"It's good to get a fresh set of eyes and a new body that doesn't know what you're going to do."
Davis worked with Cormier more than anybody else while in San Jose and he's plenty confident that his good friend will be the one to finally dethrone Jones when the two meet on January 3 in the main event of UFC 182 in Las Vegas.
"DC he's in good shape and he's always improving. So I imagine DC's going to go and beat up on Jon Jones," Davis said.
Davis has his own fight coming up in two weeks against fellow top 10 fighter Glover Teixeira in the co-main event of UFC 179 in Brazil, but once his work is done and assuming he's healthy the former NCAA champion says he would 'absolutely' go back to help Cormier finish his camp for Jones.
Davis considers Cormier a close, personal friend and it's like icing on the cake to help him get ready to face someone he doesn't exactly care for too much.
He's not rude enough to ever root for anyone's demise, but Davis would have a hard time figuring out which he would enjoy more watching on Jan 3 -- Cormier winning the gold or Jones crumbling before his very eyes.
"I don't know if would be a smile because Jon Jones lost or Daniel Cormier won, but I don't think either way it matters," Davis said. "As long as my boy wins, as long as he's happy, and he gets to beat up on Jon Jones that's a plus."
