Thomas Gifford had a rough night at the office at UFC Tampa, suffering a third-round knockout at the hands of Mike Davis. About that, there is little debate.

To many, the fight should have been stopped long before the knockout blow was delivered with fifteen seconds remaining in the third and final round. That has been a subject of debate in the days following the fight. But to Gifford himself, it’s no big thing.

“I’m all good. Everybody’s like all worried about me and stuff. It ain’t no big deal,” he told Cageside Press less than a week after the fight. “Nothing I ain’t been through.”

When he says that, Gifford is talking about more than just the fight business. “Everything I’ve done, I had to fight for,” he said. That’s something that started early. Gifford got into combat sports because of bullying as a kid.

“I got a swirlie and kids were picking on me, and they pushed me in the trash can at lunch,” he revealed. “Just a whole bunch of stuff added up, and I was like ‘you know what, I’m going to learn to fight.’ And I told my dad about it, and he got me into boxing.”

His combat sports journey “started when I was 13, and I’ve had maybe 60 or 70 boxing matches, amateur. And then I had maybe 10 to 15 as an amateur in MMA, and now I’ve gotten almost 30 pro, and I’ve had I think maybe 5 or 6 pro boxing matches.”

In other words, Gifford has had plenty of cage and ring time. Which is why his breakdown of the fight and it’s aftermath began with “it’s no big deal to me.”

In the days that followed the fight, Gifford was urged to review the bout. “When I watched it, I was like ‘what is everybody freaking out about?'” he said. As an example, he pointed to a recent featherweight title fight. “Look at Brian Ortega against Max Holloway. They went five, five minute rounds. And [Ortega] was getting battered up the last three rounds. He wasn’t landing barely landing any punches, he wasn’t doing no good. They didn’t care about him.”

“They didn’t care that he took 200 plus shots to the head,” he continued. In comparison, he pointed out, “I only took 150. That’s less to me than I’d ever taken in a fight. He missed more in the second and third round than he did in the first. Everybody, they wasn’t looking at that.”

The numbers do bring up questions. How many strikes, how many significant strikes, is too many? Is there a metric, or is it just a gut feeling? For Gifford, it’s something less tangible. While fans and pundits were worried about the way he looked and the way the fight was going, Gifford suggest you go back and look at all his old fights.

“My head never stops moving,” he pointed out. “Even if they hit me with a hard uppercut or they hit me with a hook, I turn with the punches, I give with the punches. I don’t try to grit my teeth and bare down on it. That’s how you do get knocked out.”

Gritting your teeth and bracing for impact, he explained, actually results in taking more damage than “rolling off the punches, or if they had just knocked your head back.”

“Yeah your eyes get rolled around the back of your head and stuff and of course it’s bad for your brain,” he admitted, “but I was rolling with the punches. I wasn’t just letting my face just take them full-force. There was a little bit of force taken off by the way I was moving, the way I do it.”

Gifford has been told in the past by one boxing trainer to “roll with those punches. If you can’t take them, roll with them. Take some of the edge off them.” The uppercuts from Davis were hard, Gifford admitted. And the knockout was something he takes responsibility for. “I probably grit my teeth and set my feet, next thing you know, I’m knocked out. That was my fault. Of course, I should have moved my head, I should have used more foot movement.”

But ultimately, he’s a move-forward, roll with the punches fighter. And that’s what he did.

Gifford also admits that he wasn’t ready for Davis, given the short-notice nature of the fight. Davis had stepped up on four days notice to replace Contender Series alum Brok Weaver.

“He hit hard, he was super fast, and I wasn’t prepared for that,” Gifford told us. “Because I’d been training for Brok Weaver. Brok Weaver will never be as fast as Mike Davis, I don’t care if he sees this or not. But that dude is severely fast, and he has severely good techniques and boxing skills that I wasn’t prepared for.”

“I was fully prepared to fight Brok Weaver, and then I had the switch-around,” he stated. But for a number of reasons, he was not about to turn down the fight.

“I have no money, I need this opponent, I’ve been looking forward to fighting, and it’s four day’s notice, there’s no time to back out,” said Gifford, rattling off the list of reasons why the fight had to move forward. “There’s no question in backing out to me. I still signed the contract, and I will sign the contract against Davis. I’ll fight Davis again, it’s no big deal. I will be more prepared for him this time then I was last time, of course. But if I would have trained five or six weeks for Davis like I did Brok, it would have been a totally different story, and I would have been prepared for more than what I was.”

Watch our full interview with Thomas Gifford above, covering more topics, including how Golden Eye and Fortnite are related.

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Mike Davis took this fight on four days’ notice, replacing Brok Weaver at UFC Tampa. He fell in a short notice debut against Gilbert Burns. Thomas Gifford comes into this one after losing in his UFC debut.

Mike Davis came out landed combination after combination. Gifford had no answer early on, getting wobbled by an uppercut. Davis was totally loose for this short notice fights, as his strikes were on the money and landing with ease. A huge left landed, but Gifford stood strong, even eating a front kick to the chin. Gifford kept walking forward like a zombie, barely reacting to the huge blows of Davis. One combination connected on the button, sending Gifford stumbling to the fence. Davis knocked him down, but had to fight off submission attempts from Gifford. Davis ended the round postured up and landing punches, but Gifford survived.

Davis took it easy in the second round, not exactly pouring on the combinations but picking his shots. Gifford went for an Imanari roll, but came up empty-handed. Davis landed more and more as he continued to open up his striking. Gifford shot for a takedown, but ended up on his back, eating more punches. A big knee from Davis put a stamp on a dominant round as Michael Bisping pleaded for the fight to be stopped.

A combination landed for Davis out of the gate. Gifford was throwing, but not landing anything effective. Gifford went in for a takedown, nearly taking the back of Davis, but Davis bucked him off, then landed a big knee. Gifford started to land more often, but Davis was just in much better shape after delivering all the damage in the bout. Davis shrugged off another takedown and landed more ground-and-pound. The fight returned to the feet, and a leg kick sent him down. Gifford returned to the feet, and finally, mercifully, a right straight sent him face-first to the canvas. Michael Bisping directed a frustrated, “Happy now?” to the referee after the knockout.

Mike Davis def. Thomas Gifford by KO (Right Straight) in Round 3 (4:55)

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On just four days notice, Mike Davis has joined the UFC Tampa card. ESPN was first to report that Davis will replace Contender Series alum Brok Weaver at the event, which takes place this coming Saturday. No reason has been made public regarding Weaver’s withdrawal, but it left the promotion in a pinch to say the least.

Enter Davis (7-2), who fights out of nearby Orlando, FL. He made his promotional debut earlier this year against Gilbert Burns, losing via second-round rear-naked choke to the Brazilian. With just days to prep for the lightweight contest against Gifford — not to mention make weight — Davis will look to turn things around.

Prior to his octagon debut, Davis had put together a two-fight win streak. His only other loss as a pro, outside the Burns defeat, came to Sodiq Yusuff, now a rising star with the organization.

Gifford, like Davis, suffered defeat in his UFC debut earlier this year. Now 27-years old, the 17-8 lightweight ran up five wins and a no contest prior to jumping to the big show. However, at UFC Fort Lauderdale, he dropped a unanimous decision against Roosevelt Roberts.

UFC Tampa, headlined by Michelle Waterson vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk, takes place this Saturday, October 12 at the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida.

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Roosevelt Roberts is an undefeated prospect at 25-years-old who’s gathered some attention after a successful UFC debut. He went 5-0 to start his career with three knockouts and two guillotines including a win in Bellator. The hot start gave him a chance to compete on the Contender Series, and he took full advantage by winning by second-round rear-naked choke. He got a contract with the UFC and defeated Darrell Horcher in his promotional debut with a brutal first-round standing guillotine choke in November.

Thomas Gifford is an Arkansas native who is making his promotional debut at UFC Fort Lauderdale after 26 professional fights. Currently, Gifford is on a five-fight win streak with three submissions and a knockout. Check out Cageside Press’ interview with Gifford here.

Expectations were high of Roberts, coming in as a -450 favorite. He delivered in the opening round, quashing any pressure from the underdog before taking him down to the canvas and working on a submission attempt.

Despite Gifford’s best attempts to scramble and make the fight ugly, Roberts dominated with solid ground and pound for the remainder of the round, making light work of any slight troubles and adversities that came his way.

The Floridian-born fighter started round two with a sweet striking display, tagging his opponent on numerous occasions. The fight took to the floor again when Gifford’s seemingly secure guillotine slipped and the pair fell to the canvas. Roberts would remain on top, pushing Gifford against the cage and claiming another round.

Gifford would do little other than frustrate his opponent in the third and final round, seeing the favorite cruise to another victory and to a perfect 8-0 record.

This was the first instance in which the 25-year-old prospect had gone the full distance in his professional MMA career.

Roosevelt Roberts def. Thomas Gifford by Unanimous Decision (30-27 x3)

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The UFC is coming to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in the BB&T Center on April 27. The card is headlined by a short-notice fight between Jack Hermansson and Jacare Souza. UFC Fort Lauderdale features many up-and-coming talents, returning fighters, and a few debuts. In a lightweight bout, Contender Series veteran Roosevelt Roberts will be welcoming Thomas Gifford to the UFC.

Get to Know Thomas Gifford:

Gifford was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas and is now residing in Brush Creek, Arkansas. Gifford started in boxing before finding MMA. He was the Silver Gloves champ in 2007-2008 and the Golden Gloves champ in 2009. Gifford also started learning jiu-jitsu at 15 and is a black belt in kickboxing as well. At only 17-years-old, Gifford made his debut in 2010 and went 11-2 as an amateur. A year later, he made his pro debut in July of 2011. Now, he has a record of 17-7 and along the way won the KCFA and Colosseum Combat lightweight titles. With some speed bumps in his career, Gifford is now on a five-fight win streak.

How Does Thomas Gifford Fare in the UFC:

Gifford is a veteran of 26 fights (including two no contests) and has seen it all in the cage. Somehow, in his pro career, Gifford has only fought two competitors with a losing record. He’s well-rounded and although he has many more submission wins he’s a much better striker. Gifford’s background in boxing has really made him into an excellent striker in the MMA cage. He has shown power but it’s the volume and angles that set him apart. He has a good lead uppercut with a nice one-two and actively attacks the body. He has been knocked out before in MMA and boxing though but that’s due to his willingness to stand in the pocket and trade with his opponent. Gifford has a really dangerous guillotine choke and triangle choke. With that said, that usually come from takedowns landed on him, as his takedown defense has been a big issue in the past. He does have a good guard but against UFC-level competition, he will struggle off his back. Overall, I don’t think he is ever gonna be a ranked fighter but I think he will provide some good fights and win a few bonuses along the way.

How he Matches Up with Roosevelt Roberts:

Roberts is a good prospect who has some hype behind him after his UFC debut. I believe this will be a very competitive fight and will certainly not be a blow out either way. The key to victory for Gifford would be to stay on the feet cause he is the more technical striker. Roberts though has the wrestling to take Gifford down and has shown in his career that he is a beast on top. I like this fight and I think it could be the Fight of the Night. I think Roberts wins, but I think Gifford has a chance and it’s much closer than the odds say.

Check out Thomas Gifford’s interview with Cageside Press here.

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Thomas Gifford will make his Octagon debut this weekend at UFC Fort Lauderdale. But “The Young Lion” is far from a novice.

Gifford, 26, has a wealth of experience for a fighter his age. He is a veteran of 26 fights and has spent the early part of his career fighting wherever the money would take him. Often times that was across the country, from Brush Creek, Arkansas, to this weekend in Sunrise, Flordia.

Although Gifford has not competed in the UFC as of yet, he has attended events. Most recently UFC Nashville, he got the V.I.P. treatment and all.

“I went to UFC Nashville to try and get a lay of the land and to see what I would have to go through and what everything would be like,” Gifford told Cageside Press in a recent interview.

“It was a little intense, a little crazy. Because once the main card starts and I’m the first fight on the main card, that place is completely packed in full of people yelling and screaming the lights are going crazy. It’s a bigger stage than anything.”

“I think I’m more prepared for that than anything because I’ve been through it a lot. Nerves don’t really get me, except for the fact that I don’t want to get knocked out in front of thousands of people”

For Gifford who boasts a 17-7 record, getting to the UFC was a long time coming. Now that he has made it, he doesn’t plan on letting off the gas. And for “The Young Lion” that means from the very beginning of the fight.

“After the first punch nerves will go away and everything will be fine,” Gifford explained. “The butterflies are gone and at that point its nothing but anger and adrenaline.”

Gifford is currently riding one of the most impressive winning streaks of his career with five straight. It’s not so much the number of victories but the manner. He has finished four of those five fights, with three of his opponents not even making out of the first round.

Fighting is something that Gifford is good at. He has been doing it a long time. He is a part of this new generation of fighters who grew up not ever knowing a world without MMA or the UFC. So Gifford’s 17-7 record could be a bit misleading.

“I’ve been fighting since I was 13 years old,” Gifford said. “I’ve had over 60 amateur boxing matches, I had 13 amateur MMA fights, I had three or four kickboxing matches, I’ve had five pro boxing matches, and I have 26 pro MMA fights.”

“Experience is an easy thing for me to have. Because I have been doing nothing but fighting and trying to make this statement right here, and try and make it to the UFC. Since I was 13-years-old, I wanted to be a professional fighter in the biggest league I could ever be in. And I’m finally here.”

Thomas Gifford makes his UFC debut on the main card of UFC Fort Lauderdale. The event (also known as UFC Fight Night 150 / UFC on ESPN+ 8) takes place Saturday, April 27 at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida.

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