‘Strong’ Island’s Taurosevicius Ready to Strong-arm LC Davis

By Frank Curreri

So, Deividas Taurosevicius, who are you training with these days to get ready for L.C. Davis?

“I’m training with my sparring partners,” he responds earnestly in his thick Lithuanian accent.

The Long Island, New York transplant doesn’t name names, but says he pays some of those sparring partners for their efforts, a common practice for top-tier professional boxers but less typical in MMA.

The interviewer expresses some surprise that Taurosevicius is forking over cash for the training sessions. So the 12-3 fighter enlightens him.

“Yes, yes, some of them you got to pay, of course,” the featherweight said. “Not everybody’s going to come here. Who’s going to wake up early in the morning and get busted? You gotta’ pay your training partners, some of them.”

We know unequivocally that this is true because Deividas Taurosevicius – unlike another Long Islander, former UFC welterweight champ Matt Serra – is not the joking type. Serra routinely busts chops; Taurosevicius busts noses. If you haven’t had the pleasure of watching the former rugby pro fight, well, let’s just say he’s a certified beast in the cage. This guy is so ripped his nose and ears have muscles. Truly. And that first impression of him grows when you witness how suffocating Taurosevicius is with his takedowns, how relentlessly he sticks to opponents and controls them from the top position, as he did during his most recent decision win over then-unbeaten Mackens Semerzier. While Taurosevicius regularly tests himself against boxing pros in practice, most of his opponents would prefer a standup war with him. Problem is, few have been able to stuff Taurosevicius’ smothering takedowns. On the ground the Brazilian jiu-jitsu brown belt has submitted eight opponents; the remaining seven fights have all went to the judges’ scorecards.

Two of Taurosevicius’ losses have come to mixed martial artists with strong wrestling backgrounds: UFC lightweight No. 1 challenger Frankie Edgar and former IFL champ Ryan Schultz. LC Davis, who spent years honing his craft at Pat Miletich’s gym in Iowa and also wrestled in college, fits a similar mold to Edgar and Schultz. But Taurosevicius, who has prevailed in nine of his past ten bouts, seemed bothered when asked if good wrestlers tend to be a tough stylistic matchup for him.

“No,” he said dismissively. “I lost (those fights) by decision. A fight can end any way. Both were very close fights and I’m not even going to answer this (question). I know LC Davis is a wrestler, too, but I’m working on my wrestling the same thing (sic). I do not feel like this is a problem.”

A man of relatively few words, Taurosevicius’ trademark brevity shined through once again when asked his impressions of Davis (15-2).

“He’s a very good fighter. He’s got very good wrestling. Very talented,” said Taurosevicius, who played for the Lithuanian National Rugby Team and came to America for a tournament years ago eight years ago and never left after meeting his future wife here and settling in New York.

What must you do to win on March 6 in Columbus, Ohio?

“Do my best,” he said. “This is mixed martial arts. At this level all the fighters are good, there is no tomato cans. If someone makes a mistake then you have to capitalize.

“I think this fight will be more standup, but we will hit the floor, no question. His striking is good, his wrestling is good; I think mine is better. That’s why I’m looking forward to beating him.”