Minus Miletich, LC Settles In KC

By Frank Curreri

Out of sacrifice, LC Davis lived and trained in Davenport, Iowa for three years while leaving his heart in Kansas City, which explains the featherweight fighter’s recent decision to depart the renowned Miletich Fighting Systems gym in Iowa and move back to his hometown. Watch video: A day in the life of LC Davis

The change of scenery represents a gutsy gamble: Davis chose to uproot his life just a few months before the marquee opportunity of his professional career, a main card showdown with Deividas Taurosevicius on March 6 in Columbus, Ohio. While a number of Pat Miletich’s top fighters have defected from his legendary gym on messy terms in recent years, Davis emphatically stressed that no such tensions exist between him and the former UFC welterweight champion. The split was amicable, and had everything to do with Davis’ preferred quality of life, not the quality of training or coaching he was receiving.

“I had been in Iowa for three years away from all of my friends and family,” Davis said. “I really don’t have a problem with Pat or anyone at the gym -- I loved my time there. I dropped everything I knew just to pursue a dream, but I never planned on living in Iowa forever. A lot of guys in Iowa have their wives or they are from Iowa or nearby. I didn’t grow up in Iowa, I didn’t want to be in Iowa … I went to Iowa for fighting. And I feel like what I learned in Iowa I can now take back home and still use those things. I just wanted to get back home.”

Needless to say, some adjustments were in order. In Iowa, Davis had enjoyed one-stop shopping for his MMA training; the Miletich gym is where he honed his jiu-jitsu, wrestling, boxing, Muay Thai and strength and conditioning skills. In Kansas City, he hops around between four different gyms to accomplish the same objectives. Under Miletich, Davis trained with plenty of UFC fighters, some of them stars in the sport. In Kansas City, he is the proverbial big fish in a much smaller pond. Yet the 15-2 fighter, who has won 6 of his past 7 bouts, doesn’t fear a drop-off in performance against Taurosevicius (12-3). He recently spent several weeks training at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas, and devoted another week to sparring with former UFC fighter Josh Neer and Zach Micklewright in Des Moines, Iowa.

As Davis discussed the migrations, he elaborated on why he journeyed to Des Moines instead of Davenport.

“Des Moines is like halfway between Davenport and Kansas City,” Davis said. “So it’s a two-and a-half hour drive as opposed to a six-hour drive (to Davenport) … It’s cold right now. Eventually, when all the snow clears up, I do want to go back and train at Pat Miletich’s gym. I still love all the guys there and I still want to be a part of the gym. I know a lot of guys have left the gym and have badmouthed Pat and said different things, but it’s not like that with me and Pat. I respect Pat and I feel like I wouldn’t be where I am without Pat. He opened a lot of doors for me and he taught me how to be a good mixed martial arts fighter. I respect him to the fullest.”

Miletich will not be in Davis’ corner barking instructions on March 6. Even without his longtime mentor, Davis feels he has a good handle on the Lithuanian’s style and what it will take to beat him. Both fighters are 2-0 in the WEC, and wrestling is key to their success. Taurosevicius, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu brown belt, is coming off an impressive unanimous decision victory over then-unbeaten Mackens Semezier.

“His last performance was solid,” Davis said of Taurosevicius. “He used a well-rounded game. He used his striking and wrestling a lot, he was aggressive and grinded out a victory. I’ve been watching him for awhile. We’ve both kind of followed the same career path. We were both in the IFL, then went to Affliction and now the WEC.

“We have similar approaches. We both use striking to set up our wrestling and we both want to be on top to use our ground and pound. Whoever can make the other person fight their pace and style is going to win the fight. I can’t let him grind on me and wear me down, and wrestle me and clinch me up. I have to use my wrestling offensively and keep him guessing. I think the person who can mix it up and keep the other person guessing the most is going to win the fight. It’s going to be a dogfight.”

Davis, who edged highly-decorated Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Javier Vazquez in his WEC debut and followed that up by knocking Diego Nunes from the ranks of the unbeaten, regards Taurosevicius as a “step up” in competition and the toughest challenge of his career. But now that he has returned home, the 29-year-old expects to deliver the finest performance of his career and position himself closer to a title shot. Winning, he presumes, will help build his name in Kansas City, enabling him to open an MMA gym there in a year or two.

“I feel like if your home life is good then your professional life is going to be good,” Davis said. “Now that I’m where I want to be I think it’s going to help keep more centered and grounded.”