Phil Davis worried about Brazilian judges at UFC 179: ‘It’s not going to be a fair fight’

Phil Davis does not mind fighting in hostile territory. However, he is concerned that apart from the chants of the boisterous Brazilian crowd, he will have to deal with a bad decision from biased judges when he faces Glover Teixeira in the co-main event of UFC 179 in October.

This is not to suggest that Davis is not excited about the match-up. Quite the contrary, he is ecstatic about getting the opportunity to redeem his last loss to Anthony Johnson and put himself back near title contention.

"I think it's a great match up," Davis told Sumbission Radio. "He's obviously Brazilian, the fans seem really like me down in Brazil after I'm done fighting. So you know, it should work out well. Another trip down to Brazil, another chance to have an awesome performance down there. The fans down there are absolutely fanatical about MMA so I'm just excited about the match up, the venue, the fight, (being in the) co-main, everything. Should be a great opportunity to put myself back in the title hunt."

While there have been some odd decisions dealt on international fight cards in the past, Davis is particularly worried about competing against a Brazilian on his own soil, as he does not trust the Brazilian judges to keep the fight "fair."

"Do I worry about the judges? Absolutely I worry about the judges. Is it gonna be a fair fight? No it's not going to be a fair fight. Do I expect it to be, you know uneven? Absolutely."

Yet Davis also played devil's advocate and admit that he has seldom heard a foreign fighter complain about the judges when he competes in America, which is why he has decided to simply focus on his gameplan and enjoy the process.

"But, you known at some point I gotta give these guys a little bit of credit because they come over to America and they fight, and you very seldom hear them complain.

"Now having said that, yeah there's a little bit of a home field advantage and I acknowledge that, but at the same time I'm ready to scrap."

UFC 179 is scheduled to take place Oct. 25 at the Maracanazinho gymnasium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.