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Why Bellator's signing of Phil Davis should make the UFC nervous

(Getty)

In the past, when Bellator went after its rival's talent, it was usually in an attempt to poach older, established fighters and help boost its viewership. Names like Tito Ortiz, Stephan Bonnar, Rampage Jackson, and recently Ken Shamrock and Kimbo Slice, have all jumped ship to the Viacom-owned MMA promotion over the years. Viewership followed, yes – legitimacy, that could be debated.

On Wednesday, Bellator signed top-10 UFC light heavyweight Phil Davis to an exclusive contract in  easily the most legitimate free agent "poaching" the promotion has ever accomplished.

“I can’t wait to be fighting in Bellator and wreck shop on everyone,” Davis said in a statement. “I am the absolute best and most dominant grappler to ever fight in MMA and I’m excited to get in there and compete at my new home.”

Whether Davis is the most dominant grappler in MMA is questionable. What cannot be argued, however, is Davis’ stellar career.

The former four-time All-American out of Penn State has a fight résumé littered with impressive, benchmark wins. Alex Gustafsson, Glover Teixeira, Antônio Rogério Nogueira and Lyoto Machida have all been crossed off , "Mr. Wonderful's" hit list.

Davis (13-3-1) trains out of Team Alliance in San Diego and is coming off a split-decision loss to Ryan Bader at UFC on Fox in January. Since then, his UFC contract expired and Davis remained relatively mum, at least publically, on what would follow next.

Phil Davis holds an open training session for media at Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro in 2014. (Getty)
Phil Davis holds an open training session for media at Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro in 2014. (Getty)

Now that he has officially signed with Bellator, it’s not unthinkable to see Davis in a title fight immediately. He has the most impressive (current) credentials of anyone on Bellator's roster and seeing a fighter like Davis in anything other than a marquee title fight seems silly at this point.

It’s far from the PRIDE vs. UFC discussions of the mid-2000s, but it is a nice break (and some may say, "surprise") that may once again result in rumblings of "what if."

And not just "what if" Davis beats everyone Bellator puts in front of him, which is possible. No, this is more a matter of, "what if" other fighters follow Davis’ lead.

Davis headlined a UFC on Fox and a UFC Fight Night. He co-headlined UFC 163, UFC 172 and UFC 179. Davis is only 30 years old. He carries a wicked résumé and impressive credentials and it is more than fair to assume he will only get better. The UFC put a lot of money into trying to make Phil Davis a star. Now, whatever he is, he’s going to be it in a rival promotion.

Davis' signing with Bellator may be a sidenote of 2015. However, if it plays out the way Bellator hopes, it could be the start of something much more significant.