Marcus Davis

Marcus Paul Davis (born August 24, 1973), is an American professional mixed martial artist and former professional boxer who is perhaps best known for competing in the UFC.

At 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.

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.

He retired from boxing after the TKO loss in October 2000.

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.

A professional MMA competitor from 2003 until 2014, Davis also competed for Bellator MMA, the MFC, the Cage Fury Fighting Championships, and was a contestant on The Ultimate Fighter 2.

Davis was born in Houlton, Maine, and raised in Bangor, Maine, by his single mother along with his brother, Ron who is six years older than Marcus.

Davis was troubled growing up, often getting into fights.

He 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 were no boxing gyms in his town, though he would eventually start boxing when he was 14 years old, having his first amateur match later that year.

Davis attended Bangor High School and became a professional boxer when he was 18 years old.

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.

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.

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 Chris Lytle at UFC 93 on January 17, 2009.

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" as well as a "Plastic Paddy" and said his website "looked like a St. Patrick's day parade had blown up".