The most called-out man in the UFC isn’t necessarily annoyed by the attention.
Phil Davis has been on a vitriolic campaign against Jon Jones leading into their respective fights on Saturday night.
Dan Cormier dropped from heavyweight to light heavyweight just to get a piece of “Bones” Jones, and hasn’t stopped talking about him since debuting at 205 pounds.
And there was Chael Sonnen, too, who called out Jones so effectively, he earned a title shot through his trash-talking, even coming off a loss. You would think all the call-outs would get annoying.
Yet Jones is flattered when light heavyweights mention his name.
“It lets you know you are relevant and at the top,” Jones told The Post. “If anything, it creates more pressure for them.”
In the weeks leading up to UFC 172 in Baltimore, that attention has never been so apparent. Jones takes on Glover Teixeira of Brazil, and fellow light heavyweight Davis will welcome dangerous striker Anthony “Rumble” Johnson back to the octagon.
Instead of focusing on his opponent, Davis’ attention seems to be elsewhere.
“I think it’s smart for him (to talk about me), but it’s definitely smarter for him to win this Saturday,” Jones said of Davis, whose call-outs of the champ have dominated the headlines going into fight week. “All I’ve been hearing this week is about Phil Davis.”
“I don’t think Phil’s very focused,” Jones said. “I’m sure he’s training hard, but he should be obsessed on Anthony Johnson right now. Instead he’s focused on me.”
Meanwhile, Jones takes on Teixeira, who carries a 20-fight win streak into the cage. Immune to the provocations, the 26-year-old champ from upstate New York — the brother of NFLers Arthur and Chandler Jones — is doing what he believes Davis should do as well: Focusing on the task at hand this Saturday.
“Glover has knockout power in both hands, he’s a second-degree black belt in jiu-jitsu, and to top that off, he’s a great wrestler,” Jones said. “I’ve only fought a few opponents that are so well-rounded. All the other guys were more specialists.”
If he loses to Teixeira, the call-outs and attention will be a thing of the past.
“This is the kind of fight where you have to dig deep to win,” Jones said. “There are no holes in [Teixeira’s] game. He’s comfortable on his back, he can kickbox with me. I haven’t even really seen anyone take him down.”