5 Reasons Why Phil Davis Could Beat Antonio Rogerio Nogueira

We’re now only a day away from UFC Fight Night 24: “Nogueira vs. Davis”, a free night of fights on Spike TV. With several interesting match-ups set to go down, this could be one of the best “Fight Night” cards of the year. The main event is a very intriguing match-up between Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Phil Davis. I think this fight has a lot of potential, and I think both men pose several very real threats to each other. So here’s another entry into my “5 Reasons Why” series, starting first with 5 reasons why Phil Davis could beat Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. The reverse will soon follow. Let’s dive right in.

5. The age factor.

With age comes experience, and that’s something we’ll get to a bit later. But with age also comes the slow but steady degradation of your skills, especially if you’re a fighter with many hard-fought wars. Phil Davis is eight years younger, and as Jon Jones recently proved, this is becoming a young man’s sport. With his recent loss to Ryan Bader and his super-close win against Jason Brilz, many are already seeing signs of “Little Nog” slowing down. And that’s a weakness Davis can exploit to its fullest.

4. Davis is on a great win-streak.

Phil Davis has competed four times in the UFC, and he’s never lost. That’s something Nogueira can’t say: not only has he only competed in the UFC three times, he’s lost once already. Davis has also never lost a fight, period. And he’s got only three decision wins on his record, the other five wins have all been finishes. Phil Davis isn’t another bland Lay and Pray wrestler, he’s a dynamic young talent that goes out to finish and has looked very, very impressive in his UFC career so far.

3. Davis has faced strikers before.

What do Brian Stann, Tim Boetsch, and Alexander Gustafsson all have in common? They all have over five (T)KO wins on their record: Stann has seven, Gustafsson has seven, and Boetsch has six. Although he made his UFC debut with a thunderous KO over Luis Cane, “Little Nog” has only five (T)KO wins on his record. Another thing those three aforementioned fighters all have in common? You guessed it: Phil Davis beat them.  In fact, he finished two of them.

2. Davis’ submission game is constantly improving.

Now, don’t get me wrong fans and friends. I don’t think we’ll see the day where Phil Davis submits Little Nog, and that’s something I’ll address in the reverse of this topic. But my point is this: Davis has come a long way, and both his submission offense and defense have shown marked improvement. He may never submit Little Nog, but he may just be able to hang with him on the ground. Davis has all the tools necessary to not get submitted and blast back at any submission attempts with some big Ground and Pound.

And the number one reason why Phil Davis could beat Antonio Rogerio Nogueira is…

1. “Little Nog” struggles against high-level wrestlers in the UFC.

This is solely based on his UFC performances. Jason Brilz is a very controlling wrestler, and many (most infamously Chael Sonnen) cried foul when “Little Nog” beat him. Then Nogueira met Ryan Bader and Bader was able to beat Nogueira by Unanimous Decision. Davis and Bader are cut from the same high-level wrestling cloth, and this is definitely Nogueira’s biggest weakness.

And that’s it for now, fans and friends. Stay tuned for the reverse that’s soon to follow. But what about you? What do you think Phil Davis has to do to beat Antonio Rogerio Nogueira?