Another weekend of fisticuffs has come and gone as UFC 172 blew the roof off the Baltimore Arena in Baltimore, Maryland.
Plenty of fighters were left licking their wounds, including Glover Teixeira, who saw his 20-fight win streak snapped by Jon Jones (video). And Tim Boetsch, who was forced to tap by a resurgent Luke Rockhold in the very first round (highlights).
But which fighter is suffering from the worst post-fight hangover, now 48 hours removed from the show?
Phil Davis.
"Mr. Wonderful" looked to continue his climb up the light heavyweight ladder by taking out Anthony Johnson. In the process, Davis tried to inch himself closer to his much-desired fight against division champion, Jon Jones.
Unfortunately for Davis, it seemed like he still had his focus on Jones, as the offense against Johnson was pretty much non-existent. For three rounds, "Rumble" had his way with Davis, dictating the pace of the fight all night long.
Johnson, who was making his long-awaited return to the Octagon after a two-year hiatus, bullied Davis, proving that his decision to move up to light heavyweight after competing most of his career at welterweight, was indeed a good one.
Sure, Johnson outclassed Davis on the feet -- as most of the mixed martial arts (MMA) community expected -- but what was surprising was the fact that Johnson was able to nullify the wrestling of the former NCAA Division-1 wrestling champion.
Johnson stuffed every "Wonderful" takedown attempt, thus, shutting down his opponent's offense. While it was no secret Johnson was the bigger and better man that night, one can't help but think that perhaps Davis did overlook Johnson, as Davis was more concerned with trash-talking Jones in the days leading up to the fight.
Indeed, Davis inexplicably decided to threaten "Bones" to break him like a "sugar cookie," to which the champ responded by saying he was going to mess around and get beat by Johnson by not focusing on him.
"Bones" knows.
Davis quickly realized that despite Johnson earning his six-fight win steak on the regional circuit, he is a legit contender inside the Octagon and was indeed deserving of getting an invite back to the big show. The loss will now likely send Davis tumbling down the rankings and will undoubtedly end any hope of his chance to get his hands on Jones.
At least for the foreseeable future.
Davis, who still only has two losses during his four-year tenure with UFC, has plenty of work to do if he wants to get back into the mix. It will be a long road back, but he has proven he can string together a few quality wins.
And a bout against Ovince St. Preux, would be a good test for "Mr. Wonderful" in his next bout. Sure, "OSP" has a three-fight win streak inside the Octagon, but he is still ranked No. 11 at 205 pounds and his name value is not quite as high as Phil's.
Yet.
The fight would give Davis a tough challenge, without giving him a highly-ranked opponent he doesn't quite deserve.
Anybody oppose?