Norris City (WSIL) -- Inside the cage, Zach Davis is quickly making a name for himself.
Sports Director Jason Hurst goes Beyond the Highlights with a rising star in mixed martial arts.
"The hands are dangerous, the kicks are deadly I promise," said local MMA fighter Zach Davis.
At 3-1 as a professional, all by knockout, Du Quoin native and Marion resident Zack the Cadillac Davis stunned mixed martial arts veteran Kyle Kurtz on Saturday June 12th at Cage of Honor 82 in Cape Girardeau.
"He was 10-8, he's had nearly 20 pro fights, he's fought in Bellator three times, he's 2-1, then I get in there and I knock him out in 9 seconds and it's like boom where's this guy been at? Here I am, got the door open, let's go," said Davis.
Davis hopes that open door leads to something big.
"Yes UFC, but Bellator, PFL, ONE Championship, these are all major organizations, these are all fights I'm willing to take and these are all organizations I'm willing to fight for," said Davis. "Yes I would like to be in the UFC, it's like the NFL of the sport but I'm here to fight, and fight who they put in front of me."
The 32 year old fighter turned pro in 2018. At 3-1 he's on a 3 fight winning streak, but an incident in 2016 almost cost him his career before it really got started.
"I was at a place I shouldn't have been at," said Davis. "A fight broke out, next thing you I end up being stabbed and the rest is history. It was about five stabs. It cut my quadricep completely in half. I had to be ambulanced to Deaconess hospital =, they stitched my quadricep back together, amazingly it's back to normal. There's nothing, can't tell the difference, haven't missed a beat with it at all."
You talk to his team, and they'll tell you, Zach is as strong as ever.
"His kicks are phenomenal," Davis's Coach Bryan Ramsey said. "No one likes to even hold pads for him. He'll go through 4 inches of foam like it's nothing."
"He bruises formarms," said training partner Logan Boon. "He kicks through them. It hurts."
"His head movement, his hands are lightning," said Ramsey.
" It's fun and not fun at the same time," said Boon. "It's not fun to get hit by him but you feel good when you actually touch him. He's very hard to spar with."
Davis is hungry for his chance. He's got moxie. He say's he worth the price of admission.
"An exciting fighter, an explosive fighter, a fighter that's going to put on a show for the fans," said Davis. "You're not going to hear the boos or the stand it up or come on ref separate it. You're going to hear the crowd cheering when I'm in there."
"This last fight I told everybody it was not going to go out of the first round," said Ramsey. "The fight before that, first round. We went four minutes into the round. Zach may have gotten hit one time. The guy's leg was absolutely black and purple afterwards."
"I got my foot right in the door when I need to and now it's just rolling down hill and I like where this is going," said Davis.
