TJ Dillashaw Accepts ‘Tanks’ Challenge:

TJ Dillashaw Accepts ‘Tanks’ Challenge:

By Gary Kittilsen

The 23-year-old Gervanta ‘Tank’ Davis has accomplished quite a bit in the ring despite his young age. Davis has accumulated a perfect 20-0 record (19) has twice captured a world title in the Super Featherweight division. In 2017 Davis went 3-0 with three knockouts against three undefeated fighters and followed that up with perhaps the best performance of his career, a three-round, one-sided destruction of former world champion Jesus Cellular. Despite the impressive resume that Davis has accumulated he has often been criticized for a lack of motivation and not completely being dedicated to boxing.

These claims are not baseless Davis had a two-month span that saw him lose his belt on the scales, coming in a full two pounds overweight and making no attempt to sweat off the extra weight. He then gave a lackluster performance against an unknown opponent, Francisco Fonseca, on the biggest stage of his career on the Mayweather/McGregor undercard last August.

Following the lackluster performance, Davis took the longest layoff of his career and found himself in legal hot water being charged with second degree assault, a charge that carries a maximum potential sentence of 10 years in prison The combination of events and the lackluster performance against Fonseca made many in the American media question the desire of ‘Tank’ and his dedication to the sport.

Davis is back in the headlines and the news isn’t going to help his reputation among the boxing media. Instead of trying to secure a fight with perhaps Vasyl Lomachenko, Miguel Berchelt, or Tevin Farmer, he is calling out the UFC Bantamweight champ TJ Dillashaw, an MMA fight. A fight that the UFC champ has accepted via Twitter. Dillashaw responded to Tank’s challenge by Tweeting out “Bring it! I heard they were handing out belts after Loma left your division” Davis seems quite serious in his willingness to make the leap from boxing to MMA, Davis has said on multiple times via Twitter that he wants to fight in the UFC.

The jump would be a completely unnecessary risk. If Dillashaw had agreed to fight Davis in the ring as opposed to the Octagon, it would be viewed a media stunt that may get Davis some attention and a big payday, but that’s not what Davis is agreeing to. He is agreeing to met Dillashaw in Dillashaw’s domain the Octagon. A risk that would lead to almost certain defeat but could also produce career ending or career altering injuries.

Davis is promoted by Floyd Mayweather’s The Money Team Promotions and they have not yet commented on the possibility of ‘Tank’ jumping into the cage to challenge for the bantamweight title.

Given Davis’ complete lack of MMA experience, it would be unlikely that the UFC would even consider sanctioning such a fight. However, since there is a possibility a huge payday for all parties involved anything may be possible.