Alfie Davies believes the British lightweight will claim the premier mixed martial arts title in the coming weeks, while Arsenal will complete a perfect year by lifting the Premier League trophy.
Davis challenges Usman Nurmagomedov for the PFL belt on Feb. 7 after winning the 2025 light heavyweight season championship, two weeks after Paddy Pimblett fought Justin Gaethje for the interim 155-pound gold at UFC 324 in Las Vegas.
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In football, Arsenal are currently ranked first in the Champions League and lead the Premier League with a 4-point advantage over Manchester City. The win would mark Arsenal’s first Premier League title since 2004. The club also defeated Chelsea 3-2 in the first leg of the EFL Cup semi-finals last week.
“It’s great to see,” Davies said of Arsenal’s 2025-26 campaign. “There have been seasons where we’ve been very close, but it looks like, especially with the points going down, it looks like we’re going to do it this year. I don’t want to jinx myself, but we’re getting there.”
As for Pimblitt’s Jan. 24 fight against Gaethje, Davis told MMA Fighting, “I think he’s going to” win the UFC lightweight title.
“It’s a good time to be British, man,” Davis said.
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When asked which of the three mountains has the toughest task, Davis considers his mountain to be the tallest to climb.
“I think Arsenal are pretty much there,” Davies said. “Paddy had a tough time with Gaethje but I think he was the favourite, so you could say it was me. I mean, I was the biggest loser of them all. If I had the chance, I would say I was the biggest loser after Paddy beat Gaethje and then he beat Usman and helped Arsenal win the league.”
Davis went 3-0 in the PFL lightweight division in 2025, defeating Clay Collard, Brent Primus and Gajeel Rabadanov to set up a fight with undefeated Nurmagomedov. The Russian is undefeated in 21 games since 2017, but Davies sees a path to victory.
“I think you have to play him,” Davis said. “Unfortunately, there’s no way we can get past him. He’s a smart fighter, he’s very smart, he’s very good at stealing bullets. I think Paul Hughes won the first game. It was very close though. The second game he came back and just stole the bullet, so I can’t let him steal the bullet. I need to deal with him. I need to hurt him. I’m going to go in there and make it a firefight.”