It could be hard to take a grown man seriously when his alias is Mr. Wonderful and he is wearing hot pink shorts. Phil Davis (9-0-0) is an extremely well spoken young man and is one the fastest rising stars of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Davis is ranked sixth in the world in the light heavyweight division and has spent the last two months training in San Diego for the featured fight of “UFC on Fox 2” to take place January 28 at Chicago’s United Center.

The Mr. Wonderful moniker is a tribute to his college cat who disappeared. The pink shorts are to raise awareness for breast cancer. “I lost an aunt to cancer,” Davis said. “My roommate in college, his mother is battling breast cancer currently.” Davis’s mother has also had scares with the illness. “She is doing well,” Davis said. “She had several tumors removed. She never really had cancer.”

Davis’s roommate is Corey Bennett and he originally encouraged Davis to give mixed martial arts (MMA) a shot. “He liked to see me in pain,” Davis joked during a Q & A with fans. Davis took Bennett up on his dare and in just 18 months he went from being an unknown amateur to one of the most feared fighters in the sport.

Now Davis will face former champion Rashad Evans (21-1-1). This is a a critical fight in Davis’ career because if he wins he will likely be only one fight away from a title match. However Davis, is not looking past Saturday night. “I want to put all my marbles in one basket for this fight,” Davis said. “Then after that we will decide what comes next.”

Davis is a member of Team Alliance and has spent the past two months training at the Alliance Training Center in Chula Vista. Similar to NASCAR, UFC teams train together while sharing facilities and information, but at the end of the day each fighter is out for themselves. “We have about 25 pro fighters and we’re constantly acquiring new fighters from all over the world,” Davis said. “If you're not training with good guys, it’s hard to get a look that only a good guy can give you.”

In between morning and evening training sessions, Davis drives to Kearny Mesa where he spends time in a hyperbaric chamber at the San Diego Center for Hyperbaric Therapy. “If you are broken it heals you,” Davis said. “You really can’t supplement health with anything else. Once you're injured, you're sidelined. It keeps you feeling good and keeps you healthy.”

MMA is one of the most brutal sports on the planet, but Davis who is in peek physical condition appears to have escaped his previous fights unscathed. “Rule number one, don’t get knocked out,” Davis said. “I try to avoid damage as much as possible.” Davis also cares a lot more about winning than harming his opponents. “I don’t get anything by hurting anyone.”

Davis admitted he is constantly trying to outsmart his opponents during a fight. “It really is kind of like a physical chess game,” Davis said. “A lot of times people’s perceptions is just go in there angry and beat the guy up. But let’s say you go into the octagon crazy, angry and really upset. You end up tired in about a minute in a half. That doesn’t work. You need to know what you are doing. You just can’t go in all Willy-nilly as a crazy person.”

While Davis is not afraid to exchange blows he has found success and avoided injuries by using the wrestling skills that earned him a National Championship for Penn State in 2008, his senior year. “I'm just more comfortable when I grab someone,” Davis said. “I'm in my own world once I grab a wrist. Give me a wrist and I can do anything I want.”

Davis defeated Tim Boetsch (14-4-0) with a Kimura move that involved forcing Boetsch’s wrist up behind his back until he tapped out. “The way I finished it was kind of a modified wrestling move,” Davis explained. “In wrestling, something that’s going directly against the joints is potentially dangerous and they stop it. But obviously in submission fighting that’s O.K. It’s his responsibility to tap.”

Davis has developed his striking abilities over the past two years by training in Jiu Jitsu and recently he earned his blue belt. “It’s just a way to chart your progress, but it doesn’t necessarily have to do with your skill level,” Davis said.

Despite all of the training and his unblemished record, Davis admits he will be an underdog against Evans. “When he started fighting I had just begun college wrestling. So his career has been twice as long as mine.” Davis said. “That's what it is about, time in the gym and time on the mat, and he has that. He's a formal champion, so he’s not a slouch.”

Davis is confident he will pull off the upset. “These are odds that I have been put against before, so it’s not a daunting task to me,” Davis said. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s a challenge. But it is not impossible to me because this is not the first time on paper I have been out-gunned.”

Evans may come into the fight overconfident and Davis believes he can use that against him. “I think it gives me a severe mental advantage,” Davis said. “The only thing I know is not to give up and I just win. Evans, on the other hand, thinks there is no way he can lose. He is a better striker, a better grappler. He has more time in. He has been a champion and I'm just young. How could he lose? He has no idea how I'm going to beat him. That’s my advantage. He has no idea how he is going to lose.”