Well, that was interesting. Phil Davis was outstruck by Lyoto Machida on the feet in every round of the UFC 163 co-main event, but Davis managed to very late takedowns in the each of the first two rounds. It seemed that Machida was on his way to a unanimous decision victory (I personally had it 30-27 Machida), but instead, all three judges gave it to the American fighter with 29-28 scores.
Davis opened with a nice body kick. Machida was dropping his hands a bit, trying to get Davis to exchange. Nonetheless, the fight started slowly. Machida landed a left high kick that was blocked, but seemed to still wobble Davis a bit. Machida mixed in some kicks with straight lefts. Machida exploded with a kick and combination coming forward while Davis retreated. Davis recovered from that by getting a takedown with 50 seconds to go though.
The second round begin with a few single strikes here and there, mostly kicks. Machida was landing, Davis wasn't. Davis tried to clinch but Machida evaded him. Davis connected with an overhand right. Machida stuffed a couple of takedown attempts. The best punch of the round was a straight left of Machida's that landed right on Phil's face. Davis got a takedown late again and connected with some knees to the body.
Davis picked up the pace early in the third but was having trouble connecting with much of anything. Machida landed a knee right as Davis shot in, and Machida ended up on Phil's back briefly. Both men chose to engage a lot more for the last half of the round. Machida stuffed a Davis shot and landed a crisp left. Machida spent the rest of the fight stuffing shots and throwing kicks.
This is undoubtedly the biggest win of Davis' career, but it was one that will be talked about for a while due to the controversial nature of the decision.
More from Bloody Elbow:
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- UFC 163 results: Sergio Moraes submits Neil Magny early
- UFC 163 results: Ian McCall takes decision over Iliarde Santos
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