"I think I'm going to kick him in the face!" - Alfie Davis ready for Gadzhi Rabadanov

Alfie Davis believes he is ready to face incumbent PFL Lightweight World Tournament champion Gadzhi Rabadanov after his unexpected run through to the 2025 final.

The Briton will seek to dethrone his opponent atop the division after his unanimous decision victory over prior finalist Brent Primus in the semi-finals last time out.

Now, Davis (19-5-1) has the chance to score another major scalp against Rabadanov (26-4-2), one of the most storied PFL fighters on the block in a major new challenge.

But speaking to DAZN News, the star, who trains at Great Britain Top Team under ex-UFC veteran Brad Pickett with Lone'er Kavanagh and Nathaniel Wood, plans to turn the tide.

DAZN

DAZN News: You beat Brent Primus in the semi-final, and you're in the final. Did you expect to reach this stage from the start?

Alfie Davis: No. I looked at the lineup when it first came out and was like, "Oh, I'm in for it here. What have we done?" But now I'm here.

There were some good names in the tournament. Obviously, Brent was a former champ before, I thought that was going to be a tough fight.

Clay Collard, I looked at him and was like, "He was scary. I better do something against him." And then managed to pull that out of the bag.

And now I've got a scary Dagestani. So if I keep thinking like that, I think I'm on for a winner.

DN: Who is the favourite now?

AD: I would say he's the favourite, definitely. Obviously, he was last year's winner and he's been on a bit of a knockout streak. So I would definitely say that he's the favourite.

DN: What do you think of him?

AD: I think he's good, but he's overrated. I think he's got some good skills. He's good in all aspects of martial arts, really, but I don't think he's exceptional anywhere.

I think his last few fights have overhyped him. Not that he's not deserving of the hype because he's done some good stuff, but equally, I can see through what's going on there.

DN: Any prediction?

AD: I think I'm going to kick him in the face.

DN: Gadzhi won the tournament last year against Brent Primus, but you beat him. He won against Marc Diakiese and Kevin Lee in the first round. How do you think that you're capable of beating him?

AD: I think I'm going to kick him in the face and watch him do the chicken dance. I think there are many ways of beating him

But I think the way that I will beat him is in the striking department. That's it, really. I think I'm a better striker than him. There's no secret in what I'm going to be trying to do.

I'm going to try to stay on my feet and kick him in the face. He is going to realise that he's in a world of trouble and he's going to be shooting at my legs.

So I think that's the fight encapsulated there.

DN: Kevin Lee told us the same thing and he lost by TKO in the first round. Why are you so confident that your striking is better than Gadzhi?  

AD: How many times has Kevin Lee kicked someone in the face? Let's be honest. I'm surprised he could even lift his leg up there without pulling his hamstring.

If you look at my resume, I've got many kicks in the face. I think it's not really a statement.

I think that's probably the thing - if I were to win, that is probably the way that I can win - is by kicking him in the face from my history.

Also, no disrespect to Kevin Lee, but he's got a lot of mileage on the clock to get hurt from a jab from Gadzhi. So, I think that I wouldn't expect that to happen to me.

So yeah, I think that's the fact on why I don't believe it will go the same way as what happened in the Kevin Lee fight.

DN: There are two Dagestani guys in lightweight in the PFL. One is the world champion of last year and now in the final, Gadzhi, and the other is the current champion of the division, Usman Nurmagomedov. Both train together. Who do you think is the best between those two?

AD: It's very mixed because they've got different skill sets. I think it depends on who they fight. I think, in all honesty, that they're both the runts of the litter.

In terms of the litter - in terms of Dagestani fighters - I don't really rate either of them. In terms of all the other Dagestani fighters, I don't rate them too much.

But I would probably say Gadzhi’s better. Usman looks a bit flaky, to be honest with you. I think he's got a bit of a mixed skill set, but I would say Gadzhi’s better.

Gadzhi’s got more power. Gadzhi’s more exciting to watch, that's for sure. So in terms of that, I'd prefer watching a Gadzhi’s fight than Usman.

Usman's quite boring, to be honest with you. But he's decent. He's got decent enough wrestling. But I'd say Gadzhi’s.

DN: What is the next objective if you win that fight? The next guy for Usman is Archie Colgan. What do you want? A revenge, for example, against Mansour Barnaoui?

AD: I'm not really into the revenge too much. I wouldn't mind fighting Mansour again, but if I win this one, I think I've taken a step past him. No disrespect to Mansour.

I feel like, obviously, that fight was very close. I think it was a round apiece going in, and he managed to clip me when I was winning that round.

I don't think I have anything to prove. He did win the fight, but I don't have anything to prove and would definitely be up for a rematch down the line.

But I think if I win this fight, then I'll have taken a step past him. I think the winner out of those two would be ideal. I'd like to fight for the title by the end of the year.

DN: For the next title shot, Usman has to fight Archie Colgan because he beat Mansour Barnaoui. So if there is any guy that you want - for example, Paul Hughes - can you fight him in London if there's a PFL there?

AD: Yeah, why not? But what I feel like is, again, no disrespect to Archie Colgan. They did call that the number one contender's fight.

But if I win this fight and look at what I've done this year, I think I'm the number one contender. I know you call it the number one contender fight, but let's be honest.

He beat Mansour, and it was an okay fight, but he nearly got stopped in the third, let's be honest. And before that, he's not had a great résumé, so why should he go over me?

If I beat this guy, Gadzhi, in the way that I feel that I can, and then the guy is a former Bellator champion, Brent Primus, very dangerous fighter in Clay Collard...

If I do all three of them in a short space of time, then how would he be the number one contender over me? It wouldn't make sense.

DN: You train in Great Britain Top Team. Who is the team leader for you?

AD: I think Nathaniel Wood would take that role, to be honest with you. He's probably had the most experience at a high level, and he's been at that gym a very long time. So I would say Nathaniel Wood.