Joey Davis will look for victory number four on Friday, but the 24-year-old Bellator prospect already eyes his ultimate goal far into the future.
Joey Davis didn’t go 133-0 in collegiate wrestling with the intention of being anything less than great in MMA. He was signed to Bellator immediately without any professional fights and has already put together three victories in two years as he continues to grow and develop. But beyond his next fight on Friday, there lies the ultimate goal of returning the love that the sport of MMA and wrestling has given to him and being able to share it with the community he knows all too well.
Outside the cage, “Black Ice” is on the brink of completing his degree in Communications from Notre Dame this December. He already has employment after college; he is in the midst of a multi-fight deal with Bellator. But like any college student, finding internships is par for the course for figuring out what could be next for their career. Davis is no exception, having completed a program with Uninterrupted, the digital media company headed by none other than NBA superstar LeBron James.
“I was doing MMA work. They wanted me to look up MMA fighters that they could interview in the future, young up-and-coming stars like myself. I did a lot of recording with Andrew Hawkins. He was the first mentor that I really enjoyed. I was pretty much out there recording him and he would give me work to do.”
If Davis were on the other side of interviews during fight week, he would have no shortage of ideas for the various athletes competing. He shares the card with flyweight champion Ilima Macfarlane who will be attempting her first title defense on the same night. When prompted what he would ask the champion, he stated:
“I would probably ask, have you really never been in a street fight before? Did nobody ever ruffle your feathers in school? What made you want to be a fighter now? I’ve seen her interview on the Bellator page and it gave me a lot of momentum and energy. For a girl to have never been in a street fight and to learn and train and develop to be a champion, I think that’s a really special human being.”
He will go for victory number four against Craig Plaskitt on Friday night and continue the amazing run that Team Bodyshop has been on. Dubbed “The Movement,” Davis is part of a remarkable group of young men currently under the tutelage of Antonio McKee including McKee’s son AJ, Aaron Pico, and Kevin Ferguson Jr. In the last six months alone, the four men have put together an impressive 5-0. Davis insists that there is no collective pressure to continue the run. Rather, it’s in the drive he has in himself as a competitor.
“I take all the pressure. I feel like I’m that type of leader that I take all the pressure. If anything, I take it from my team that way they have none. My coach has done a really good job of mentoring us and it’s not a one-man show. If anyone is going to win it’s going to take each and every one of us to make one guy better.”
On the outside, Davis would appear to have everything a young prospect could need or want. But he has openly admitted it wasn’t always that way. Davis fully remembers the trouble and situations he was in growing up. He found his exit through sports, and one day, he hopes MMA gives him the chance to give it back to the next generation that needs the same escape it gave him.
“I want to be the outlet for all the inner city kids that whatever positive things you put your mind to, it can really work out. I can be the outlet for them because I really came from the struggle. I’m still struggling. My mom still lives in Compton. My Dad still lives in Inglewood. I still live with my parents and I still feel that struggle and it pushes me every day.”
He is at the beginning of a career he hopes will mirror the one he had in college wrestling, but he explains that he has big dreams for his future should he is hoping to build through the fight game. “I’d open up a huge wrestling community in Los Angeles. Especially here because we don’t really have a big community, only some good high schools. I feel I’m one of the best wrestlers in California hands down. With my mentor Antonio [McKee] helping me, with his business aspirations, we could do something huge with the wrestling community.”
What would he call this landmark facility in his community? “Joey Davis or Joey Iceman Academy. That’s what I’m thinking right now, but it could change.”
Joey Davis will take on Craig Plaskitt on the preliminary portion of Bellator 201 this Friday.
