UFC 179 results recap: Glover Teixeira vs Phil Davis fight review and analysis

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Light Heavyweight standouts Glover Teixeira and Phil Davis scrapped last night (Sat., Oct. 25, 2014) at UFC 179 inside Maracanazinho Gymnasium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

After a disappointing loss to division champion Jon Jones, Teixeira needed a strong performance to get back in the proverbial mix. With a win, Teixeira would retain his status as an elite 205-pounder.

Similarly, Davis was attempting to recover from a shellacking of his own, though his came at the hands of Anthony Johnson. In addition, Davis really needed a victory to prove that he was in fact a future contender, not a mere gatekeeper.

And with this dominant victory, Davis has put himself on the short list of future title contenders.

For the first several minutes, Teixeira repulsed Davis' takedown attempts, but neither man landed anything truly significant. After Teixeira attempted to counter a Davis takedown with a dump, "Mr. Wonderful" managed to drive Teixeira to the ground.

Once Davis got a firm grip on his opponent, he repeatedly worked him over with short punches and takedowns.

Teixeira opened the round with some aggressive hooks, but Davis was able to circle out of danger. Davis landed a takedown about a minute but was reversed not long after. Davis landed another takedown not long after, as Teixeira attempted to jump on a guillotine and fell off.

Davis was doing a decent job landing ground strikes, but Teixeira was able to stand with just over a minutes left. On his feet, Davis jumped in and out, avoiding most of Teixeira's punches. Next, Davis landed another takedown, putting his stamp on the round.

The third round was far and away Davis most dominant, as he hit the takedown early and often. Not only did Davis control Teixeira, but he landed some solid ground strikes and secured some dominant positions, including mount momentarily and even a cradle.

This is without a doubt one of the best wins of Davis' career. The NCAA wrestling champion's set ups to takedowns had clearly improved, and his ability to chain takedowns was as good as ever. Once Davis secured top position, he very much looked the part of an elite wrestler.

Furthermore, Davis' overall striking was much better. It was still a bit choppy, but he was able to land shots of his own with getting hit much -- the ultimate goal of striking.

In addition, Davis' ground striking was much improved. He did quite a bit of damage with his strikes, rather than simply smothering his opponent.

For his next bout, Davis will absolutely not get Anderson Silva. In the real world, Davis will likely end up squaring off against the winner of Mauricio Rua and Jimi Manuwa.

Teixeira has to be disappointed in his performance. A loss to Jon Jones is more than excusable, but he got soundly beaten by a fighter who -- prior to tonight -- had never really been seen as a serious title contender.

Though Teixeira fought valiantly the entire time and kept working to stand up throughout the fight, he made a very serious flaw of continuing to engage with Davis after stuffing the initial shot. By attempting reversals and grabbing at his opponent's neck, Teixeira allowed Davis to build off his failed shot and eventually secure top position.

Luckily, Teixeira is an aggressive finisher who people like to watch. Therefore, he'll likely end up matched with another light heavyweight striker such as Ovince St. Preux or Rafael Cavalcante.

At UFC 179, Phil Davis exceeded expectations by soundly out-wrestling Glover Teixeira for three rounds. Can Davis' wrestling skills and improved striking carry him to the top of the division?

For complete UFC 179 "Aldo vs Mendes" results and play-by-play click HERE.