Phil Davis not paying any mind to Vadim Nemkov loss ahead of their rematch at Bellator 257

UNCASVILLE, Conn. –  The past is the past for Phil Davis.

The former Bellator light heavyweight champion said he is in no way thinking about his split-decision loss to current champion Vadim Nemkov ahead of their rematch in the main event of Friday’s Bellator 257. Davis (22-5 MMA, 9-2 BMMA) doesn’t want to dwell on what could’ve been, as he lost a close split decision to Nemkov (13-2 MMA, 5-0 BMMA) back in 2018. It’s Davis’ only loss in his past six trips to the Bellator cage.

“I don’t care; I don’t care,” Davis told MMA Junkie. “For me to look back and think, ‘Oh, they should’ve gave that to me,’ that’s a waste of my time and my energy. I’ll never get better doing that. I’m all about getting better and winning fights, so why even calculate that into my existence? I’m good. Judges have a tough job. They said I didn’t win; I didn’t win.”

Despite already being past the defeat, Davis said he did take some things away that he’s been trying to implement in his career. “Mr. Wonderful” said it’s important for him to be more aggressive in his fights.

“I look at that fight, and I think I have to start sooner and when I find a crease,” Davis said. “I have to exploit it right away. I can’t necessarily finesse it all the of time. Sometimes you just have to get a little forceful, be a little bit of a brute and get it done.”

The 36-year-old fighter feels he’s got a good picture of what the fight may look like on Friday having shared the cage with Nemkov before, but he does admit that both he and his opponent have improved since 2018.

“I feel like we’re definitely both better, but we’re still versions of that fight,” Davis said. “I expect to. … At the same time, a rematch is a little weird because you expect a person to do something vs. ‘I don’t know what this guy is going to do.’ I try to take a novel approach, and just knowing an idea of what he’s trying to do but not going in there with a script of what he will do or his plan of attack.”

Bellator 247 takes place at Mohegan Sun Arena. The main card airs on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.