Wembley fighter Alfie Davis believes making his American debut is a step towards leaving a legacy in mixed martial arts.
The 29-year-old, who trains at London Shootfighters, has a record of 14 wins, three losses, and has been undefeated on the global stage with Bellator, with the Brit earning four consecutive unanimous decision victories to establish himself as one of Europe's top lightweight prospects.
Davis' next assignment will come at Bellator 259 on May 21, where he will take on Russian prospect Alexander Shabliy at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.
“I would love to get a title and leave a legacy as someone who people loved to watch and have fights that people will always remember,” Davis admitted.
“It is great to be making my American debut. Everything you do in life people always talk about the American dream, everything is always bigger in America. Fighting out there is the first step to making it big.”
Shabily has competed for a host of promotions, most notably ACB/ACA and Fight Nights Global in Russia, and arrives in Bellator riding a four-fight win streak, with a record of 19 wins, three losses.
“I have been researching a lot ahead of the fight. He has fought in a lot of Russia promotions. He has a good record and has fought a lot of good opponents. In terms of his style, he likes to box and has solid grappling skills and he is very fit. It will be a really good test for me next Friday.
“His submissions came very early in his career and as of late he has been looking to strike more. I do believe he is going to shoot and I think he will try and box but realise he won’t be able to find his range against me so he will then try and grapple.”
He added: “I am here for the main events and I am so excited to get there. Once I beat Shabily, he is arguably better than a lot of the guys in the top 10 of the Bellator rankings so a win would hopefully put me towards fighting the guys in the top five.
“Hopefully I would get to take on one of those top guys. I would love to fight Peter Queally, who just had a huge win, in Dublin. The atmosphere would be electric and I think it would be a great match-up.”
Davis revealed how he got into MMA and ended up fighting on Bellator cards.
“I started as a kickboxer, due to watching Jean Claude Van Dam movies as a youngster and I wanted to replicate it, and then I was kickboxing until the age of 18.
“I competed in the world and European championships and got as far as I could kickboxing and I couldn’t go further and by then MMA had started to grow and I watched it and thought I would give it a go and that is how I got into it.
“I am very happy fighting for Bellator. It is one of the biggest organizations in the world. I am happy that I am here and progressing up the ladder.”
The lightweight fighter is also extremely grateful to be able to train at London Shootfighters.
“We are very lucky to have such a hotbed of talent in Wembley. It is a relatively small MMA gym compared to others in the world but we are very lucky with the quality of athletes who train here and it makes it an awesome environment to train in.
“It is so good to be able to bounce off some of the best names in MMA.”
Watch Alfie Davis in action at Bellator 259: Cyborg vs. Smith, live on the BBC iPlayer from 10:30pm BST on Friday, May 21
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