M1 Global Team USA West light heavyweight standout, Raphael Davis

Originally posted on ProMMA.info

Fresh off of his first round TKO victory at Affliction’s M1 Global season opener in Tacoma, Washington, Light Heavyweight Raphael Davis sits down with PRO MMA (promma.info) to discuss his most recent win, among other things.

Davis, who is 32 and a full time firefighter in the L.A. area, is 5-1 with his only loss being a unanimous decision back in 2006 in the IFL. All five of his victories have been from a stoppage, three being submissions and two TKO’s.

In quite possibly his most notable fight to date, Davis submitted The Ultimate Fighter 8 Finalist, Vinicius Magalhaes in 3:03 of the second round by verbal submission/Rear Naked Choke. Now fighting for Team U.S.A. West in the M1 Global Challenge, Davis has started the year out with a bang, finishing Jair Goncalves Jr. in 4:05 of the very first round via ground and pound.

PRO MMA: Raphael, congrats on the recent win and thanks for taking the time out to talk with us.
Raphael: No problem, thanks for having me.

PRO MMA: By looking at your record, it’s obvious you have good Jiu-Jitsu. Is that where you come from, a BJJ background?
Raphael: No, actually I come from wrestling, I wrestled for Cal-State Bakersfield in my Junior and Senior years. I actually placed 5th in Division 1 so I was an All-American in division 1 for CS Bakersfield. After that I wrestled internationally for the next five years, trying to make the Olympic squad. I qualified for the Olympic team trials in 2000, but didn’t make it in 2004 because I tore my ACL. That’s basically where the Jiu-Jitsu comes from. When I came back to L.A. I started working on Jiu-Jitsu. Now I just kind of flow back and forth between the two styles. You know, with the Jiu-Jitsu, I understand what they’re trying to do with the moves now and the wrestling lets me maneuver out of some positions ’til I’m no longer in danger.

PRO MMA: With that said, do you think that wrestling is the best base to start an MMA career?
Raphael: Well yeah, I mean, even early in my career, I was able to get out of Jiu-Jitsu moves using just pure wrestling. Back then I didn’t know arm bars well at all, didn’t know triangle positions, nothing, yet I was still able to stay out of dangerous positions just using my strong base, controlling a guy’s head and things like that. I think it [wrestling] is by far the best. Just look at how many guys are at the top of the game right now that are just wrestlers, that learn or eventually learn Jiu-Jitsu and eventually learn boxing. There aren’t that many the other way around, that come from Jiu-Jitsu and then learn boxing and wrestling. And wrestlers seem to peak in their late 20’s early 30’s. Internationally you see guys in their 30’s who are making squads and are at the top of their game.

Click here to read the entire interview at ProMMA.info