Davis made his MMA debut in 2006, defeating Nick Wright in VFC 12. His professional MMA career has made him retire from a steady job as a wrestling coach at Pratt Community College, moving to the Quad Cities to train under Pat Miletich at his Mixed Martial School. He has competed for the Featherweight Grand Prix title, but there he suffered the first loss of his professional career, to Wagnney Fabiano. In 2008, Davis was intended to debut in WEC 35 as a replacement to the injured Cub Swanson, who broke his hand at training. He was supposed to fight against Hiroyuki Takaya, but the fight was cancelled for unspecified reasons.
World Extreme Cagefighting
Davis made his WEC debut against fellow WEC newcomer Javier Vazquez on August 9, 2009 at WEC 42. He won via split decision. He returned to the WEC only four months later, defeating previously unbeaten Diego Nunes via unanimous decision at WEC 44. A victory which was also considered a major upset, Nunes was a 3 to 1 favorite coming into the bout. On March 6, 2010, Davis defeated Deividas Taurosevičius via majority decision at WEC 47, Thus solidifying his name as a top 10 contender in the WEC featherweight division. In his fourth WEC outing, Davis fought top contender Josh Grispi at WEC 49. In the first round of the fight, Grispi sunk in a deep guillotine choke as Davis was shooting for a takedown. Grispi managed to choke Davis unconscious and was declared the winner via technical submission. Davis looked to bounce back from his previous defeat by taking on Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black beltRaphael Assunção. The fight took place on November 11, 2010 at WEC 52. Davis lost via unanimous decision. For the first time in his WEC career Davis was the favorite coming into the fight. After losing his second straight fight Davis was released from Zuffa following the UFC/WEC merger.
Independent promotions
In September 2008, Davis signed a year-long three-fight non-exclusive contract with Affliction, Davis made his Affliction debut on January 24, 2009 where he defeated journeyman Bao Quach by unanimous decision after a back and forth fight. His contract was later terminated after the company closed. Davis has been announced as a participant in World Victory Road's Featherweight. In the first round of the tournament Davis was upset and thoroughly defeated by Michihiro Omigawa via unanimous decision. After his release from the WEC, Davis returned home to Kansas City to work on his training where he eventually decided to drop down to the bantamweight division. Davis made his bantamweight debut on May 25, 2012 at Titan Fighting Championships 22 against Bill Kamery. Davis defeated Kamery in the second round via TKO putting him back in the win column for first time in over two years. Davis defeated Jacob Akin on February 22, 2013, at Kansas City Fighting Alliance 5 via TKO due to punches in round one. Davis defeated Dominic Blanco on March 30, 2013, at Victory Fighting Championship 39 via TKO due to a liver kick in round one. Davis defeated James Saville on June 29, 2013, at GWC: The British Invasion via unamious decision.
Bellator MMA
Davis made his debut with Bellator MMA on March 21, 2014 at Bellator 113. He faced Tory Bogguess and won via guillotine choke submission in the closing seconds of the first round. Davis next faced promotional newcomer Zeilton Rodrigues at Bellator 124 on September 12, 2014. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Davis faced Hideo Tokoro at Bellator 135 on March 27, 2015. He won the back-and-forth fight via split decision. He still went on to do the interview after he broke his jaw. Davis faced the former Bellator Bantamweight Champion, Joe Warren in the main event of Bellator 143 on September 25, 2015. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. On February 20, 2018 it was announced that Bellator had released Davis from the promotion.
Personal life
Davis has a son with wife Kylie Shepard.
Championships and accomplishments
Victory Fighting Championship
*VFC Bantamweight Championship
Yahoo! Sports
*2015 Best Fight of the Half-Year vs. Hideo Tokoro
