Evans questions Davis' mindset, says 'boy' not ready for UFC on FOX 2 spotlight

With barker extraordinaire Chael Sonnen largely electing to pass on any pre-fight trashtalk for next week's UFC on FOX 2 event, someone had to take the reigns of Friday's media call.

Rashad Evans and Phil Davis did exactly that.

The former light heavyweight champ, who through most of the call had been rather subdued, decided it was time to spice things up a bit and launched into a verbal tirade that called into question opponent Phil Davis' mentality as fighter as well as calling him a "boy" unready for his time in the spotlight.

"You ain't beating me," Evans said. "It can't get here fast enough because I'm going to smash you.

"He ain't ready. He know he ain't ready. I can look in his eyes and see he ain't ready. You're just a boy."

The barb, which seemingly came out of nowhere following a mostly peaceful pre-event buildup, left even noted trashtalker Michael Bisping impressed.

"It's about time," Bisping chimed in. "I was falling asleep."

Evans (16-1-1 MMA, 11-1-1 UFC) and Davis (9-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) meet in the main event of next Saturday's UFC on FOX 2 event, which takes place at Chicago's United Center and features a three-bout main card that airs on FOX.

Evans, of course, is hoping a win over Davis in the main event matchup will propel him into a title fight with current champion and former teammate Jon Jones. Meanwhile, it's less clear what a victory for Davis would mean, and UFC president Dana White has suggested former Strikeforce champ Dan Henderson could potentially fill in against Jones, who has recently suggested he'd like to fight sooner rather than later.

Davis said that plan works just fine for him.

"After I beat Rashad on the 28th, they won't really have anything else to do with me other than have me fight [for the title]," Davis said. "That actually works perfectly into my plans. I take a little rest. 'Hendo' fights for the title. Whatever happens with that, cool, I'm up next."

Evans took immediate exception.

"You ain't beating me," Evans said.

Davis fired right back.

"I was kind of thinking you really shouldn't be too concerned about that title shot because that's just one of those things," Davis said. "It's not going to be for a little while. You've got a little while until you've got to worry about that title shot. It's not going to happen this time around."

For Davis, the fight is unquestionably the biggest of his career. A four-time NCAA Division I All-American wrestler, Davis has only been fighting professionally for 39 months. And while he's made dramatic improvements along the way, former champ Evans questioned his readiness for the spotlight of a main event on network television.

"We're going to see what happens when those lights hit you – when you walk out and that crowd is roaring," Evans said. "We're going to see. We're going to see what kind of a man you are. We're going to see what kind of fighter you are because I know you ain't a fighter. I know you're not going to peak.

"When you get hit in the mouth, things change. When you got hit by [Antonio Rogerio Nogueira], you didn't know what to do. When I hit you in the mouth, you're going to feel it."

Davis was unimpressed.

"Ooh, that's scary," Davis sarcastically quipped.

When asked to clarify his claim that Davis is "not a fighter," Evans said it boils down to a different approach to walking into the octagon.

"Look, there's some people that would fight if they weren't getting paid to fight," Evans said. "I'm one of those people. Phil is not one of those people."

Davis didn't deny that his pugilistic skills are only displayed on a per-hire basis, but he certainly didn't seem to back away from the challenge of facing a former champ.

"You're absolutely right," Davis said. "I'd be pushing a pen. But since I get paid to fight, looks like you next."

The suddenly warring main-eventers certainly add flavor to a card that recently was forced to deal with the loss of Mark Munoz and the reshuffling of two of the evening's three featured contests. And while most MMA fans were salivating over the thought of Sonnen and Bisping dropping heated one-liners in the build-up to their clash, it turns out Evans and Davis are prepared to carry the load.

"You're going find a difference in mindset," Evans told Davis. "That's all I got to say. Right now you can say what you want to over the phone, but when we get in that cage and you can't get out, we're going to see how you feel then."

"When I'm on top of you, I'm going to remind you with every shot what you said," Davis quickly replied. "Remind you with every shot what you said."