Phil Davis hijacks UFC 172 conference call, trash-talking Jon Jones
The UFC 172 conference call Monday made it seem like Jon Jones was fighting Phil Davis on Saturday and not Glover Teixeira.
Davis continuously hijacked the call to bash Jones, cutting him off and even asking questions to the UFC light heavyweight champion as if he were a reporter. Most of the focus of Davis' barbs surrounded around the fact that he believes Jones lost to Alexander Gustafsson back in September.
Earlier in the call, Jones was laughing at Davis' remarks and said the two were friends.
"I'm not giving up on you yet, Phil," Jones said.
Davis replied: "I'm not going to give up on you either, sweetheart."
It only got worse from there. Davis, who fights Anthony Johnson on Saturday in Baltimore, asked Jones how he overcame being scared against Gustafsson and if he needed to sleep with a teddy bear. He also said Gustafsson hit Jones in the eye so much he made him look like a pirate and that he would clean up whatever was left of Jones when Teixeira was done with him.
"Jon Jones didn’t know up from down when he was fighting Alex," said Davis, who trains sometimes with Gustafsson at Alliance MMA in San Diego. "He didn’t know what hit him. He didn’t know why he hit him that hard, why he hit him so much. I still don’t understand really how [Gustafsson] lost. But I will say this, Jon Jones did come back in the fourth and fifth rounds like a champion. Did he do enough to win? Absolutely not."
By the time the call was over, Jones was clearly annoyed.
“I’m not going to sit here and belittle myself by entertaining Phil," Jones said. "At first I thought it was funny, but now it’s just silly."
Davis was clearly making a statement with his performance on the call. Last week, UFC president Dana White said the former NCAA wrestling champion wasn't vocal enough -- and it almost seemed like he was content in just being top-five light heavyweight, rather than wanting to gun for a title shot.
Davis took serious umbrage to White's comments, admitting he's a quiet guy and he's not one to blow up White's phone asking to fight Jones.
"I’m going to beat the breaks off Anthony Johnson and then I will call and text you every day until you change that statement," Davis told FOX Sports.
It looks like he's already started the campaign. On the call, Davis also clarified a previous remark he made in an interview, saying he promises to break Jones apart like a sugar cookie.
Johnson and Teixeira, who would not take any trash-talking bait, were reduced to spectators. Davis, though hardly innovative or biting in his words, stole the show.
Jones said on the call that it seemed like he and Teixeira couldn’t adequately promote their fight this weekend, because of all the questions he gets about Gustafsson. And now this.
"If anything, Phil is embarrassing himself with all the antics," Jones said.
Maybe. Or maybe he's just finally understanding that a 12-1 record and wins against some of the top guys in the division -- Gustafsson included -- won't be enough for him to get where he wants to be.
"You got to win, you got to look good winning and then you got to tell everybody you're going to break apart Jon Jones," Davis said. "That's that."
