Peter Davis: “I have to win, it’s as simple as that.”

Peter Davis is well known as an actor and model in Malaysia but his reputation as a Mixed Martial Artist is also growing. He has faced opponents from England, Japan, Kyrgyzstan and most recently Indonesia while racking up a 4-1 professional record.

The biggest fight of his career will come on June 23 when he takes on Singaporean Kim Hock in his hometown of Kuala Lumpur at ONE FC:  Destiny of Warriors. The rivalry between the two countries is sure to make for a fierce atmosphere and it is a contest which Davis is determined not to lose,

“I am fighting in Malaysia in front of everyone who I know, all my friends and all the people I work with, I can’t lose. I am going to train so hard between now and June 23 to make sure that doesn’t happen, I have to win, it’s as simple as that,” said Davis in an interview with Fighters.com.

Davis is a pioneer of MMA in Malaysia and was probably the first person to ever start offering classes in Kuala Lumpur. He is a member of the fight team at Muayfit and has witnessed first hand the incredible explosion in interest in the sport of MMA.

“I was invited to come and teach MMA at Muayfit last year because back then they didn’t have an MMA program and the owner Paul Teo thought it would be popular. Now there around ten full time fighters there including Eric Kelly, Arnaud Lepont and Allamurad Karayev who are all signed to ONE FC,” explained Davis.

His face is frequently plastered all over billboards because he is one of Malaysia’s most recognizable models but this year he has resurrected his MMA career after six years of inactivity. Davis made a successful comeback last December winning with a rear naked choke at Malaysia Fighting Championship 3 and followed that up with a triangle choke win at ONE FC: War of the Lions in February.

He is now riding a three fight win streak but feels that victory alone will not be enough when he fights in front of the Kuala Lumpur crowd.

“I want to put on a good performance and make it an exciting fight,” admitted Davis. “My last opponent was very cautious and just didn’t want to engage me at all so I had to be patient which might have been frustrating for the fans who came to see a fight. This time around I want to try and win by knock out, if the submission is there I will take it but I want to show off my striking.”

Hock Fighting for National Pride Against Davis

Hock made a very successful ONE FC debut himself in March when he took on Major Overall who was representing Muayfit. The Singaporean won with a submission in the second round but Davis says he is not looking for revenge for his team mate, stating, “I never really trained with Major so avenging that loss is not something I am thinking about, I’m representing Malaysia and I don’t need any more motivation than that anyway. He (Hock) looked good in that fight, good boxing, good ground game, I am not expecting an easy fight.”

ONE FC has grown in the space of a year to become the biggest MMA organization in Asia and a local fighter who already has established mainstream appeal is always going to have a place on the roster. Davis has already proved he can make it in the competitive worlds of both modeling and acting, on June 23 he will have 10,000 Malaysians hoping that he can have similar success as a fighter.

PHOTO CREDIT – ONE FC