Unless you’ve taken a vacation from social media, you’ve probably seen the monumental beef between newly crowned UCMMA welterweight champion, Alex Lohore, and the promotion’s 155lbs title holder, Alfie Davis.
Whether your Facebook friends with either fighter,UCMMA top dog Dave O’Donnell, Cage Warriors matchmaker Ian Dean, or just friends or their friends, the chances are that you’ve seen at least one of the costs relating to the spat. But how did it all start? “Initially, I wrote on Dave O’Donnell’s status a suggestion that me and Lahore should fight for the belt,” explains Davis. “Lohore then wrote on my wall claiming that I should watch my mouth.”
And from there, pretty much half of the UK MMA community gave their thoughts on the situation. Below are a few of the more choice cuts from the exchange:
Your fan base is dead, you won’t be able to handle the noise coming from the ARDfamily.. I’ll throw some toilet paper at you.. So you can wipe your arse!
Alfie show him. Da Kid needs a slap
I knew you would see it as you was tagged in the status. Let’s find out then, I’ll be lighter than you and still man handle you. You fight like a bitch!
See the full thread HERE.
The inspiration for the call out came from Lohore’s decision victory over former champion, Josh Collins at UCMMA 48 – a victory that has been the cause of some discussion since.
“I was at the fight on Saturday and saw him pick up a dodgy split decision that made me slightly angered. I felt for Josh [Collins], who was a great champion and someone that I have regular trained with.
“Part of me wanted to help the MMA community by removing this poor show of a champion, whilst the other part knew that fighting him would be easy money and an easy belt to add to my collection.”
If the UFC and Conor McGregor have taught us anything, it’s that talking sells fights. So with the pre-written backstory in place, this would surely be one that sells itself. Well, the aforementioned Ian Dean certainly thought so, casually throwing the Cage Warriors platform into ring:
Thinking outside the box, this would be a good fight to have live on TV or on the world’s leading MMA global subscription service.
This particular thread didn’t escape Davis’ attention: “Yes, I read that bit of banter,” noted Davis. “The ARD company is happy to collaborate with any promotion if the deal is right. Whichever deal is the best, the ARD will take. This is business.”
Despite the calls for a UCMMA superfight between Lohore and Davis, it doesn’t seem like the fight will be taking place. At least not any time soon, anyway.
“I feel like he is trying to protect his record. He knows the outcome of the fight and doesn’t want to spoil his win streak. Which is fine, I get it. However, when you become the Champion, the privilege of turning down fights should be removed as you are supposed to be the best in that division.”
Regardless of the beef, Davis insists the talking is ‘nothing personal’, and that Lohore is merely standing in his way at this moment in time.
“Becoming a champion is reflective of courage and perseverance that others fail to achieve. I know this because I am also the lightweight champion. This courage should be reflected in total disregard for others on the way to the prize. This therefore shows why I am the real champion and why every show I fight on is the ARDshow.”
Having fought previously on Cage Warriors’ return to action in April, Davis appears to also have his eye on some of their hardware.
“As for collaborations with Cage Warriors, they also have some gold that, I feel, with my courage and perseverance I will one day own.
“I have a passion for the art of combat. I will continue with this passion and collect belts on the way. I would like to unify my UCMMA belts, then I could take the Cage Warriors strap. The possibilities for the ARD company as a whole are endless. This is what is so great about working hard and having courage and perseverance that others can not replicate.”
Has UKMMA embraced it’s inner Sonnen? Are we about to fall on ARD times?
No apologies for that pun, none at all.
