Davey Grant | Hungry For More

Grant picked up the unanimous decision win, and then it was off to the land of Mickey and Minnie with his wife and three kids, aged 7, 13 and 15. It was an emotional victory, especially for his seven-year-old daughter, who may be taking dad’s trips to Vegas for training camp the hardest.

“My little girl, she's the only one who misses me,” Grant said. “I think she gets really upset when I tell her I've got to go. In fact, that last time I told her, ‘Look, I'm going to go to Vegas.’ And she started crying. She said, ‘How would you like it if I went away for all these days?’ And I said, ‘I know, but baby, daddy's got to work.’ She said, ‘Well, can you not just get a job in McDonald's just up the road?’ (Laughs) So you never know, if the UFC doesn't work out, I've got McDonald's to live back on.”

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We both laugh, not just because we can’t picture Grant asking, “you want fries with that,” but because the UFC has worked out for him, even though some injury-induced layoffs made you wonder if he was going to end up as a “What If” story, and not as a 13-fight veteran of the promotion. Grant never stopped pushing, never stopped believing, and when you add five post-fight bonuses into the mix, he’s given his family a good life, one that wasn’t always guaranteed in a sport where one bad injury can end everything.

“You know me, I'm a humble guy and I absolutely thank my lucky stars that this is the hand I've been given and the fact that I can treat my family to all these nice things,” he said. “The fact that I get to travel the world and perform in front of millions, I'll never ever take it for granted. And it makes me proud to be able to take the family along and do all these things. I'll never be able to thank the UFC enough for all these chances. Especially for a guy like me. Honestly, my mom probably thought I was going to either end up, I don't know, dead or in jail. I wasn’t an ideal kid. And I've turned out all right. So I think I've made the family proud. They probably thought he was touch and go at one point.”

Grant’s tale is an inspiring one, and perhaps the only thing that would make it better is a shot at a world title. Of course, Grant knows that’s a long shot, but what if the stars aligned, he got into the Top 15 and then got a short notice crack at a belt. Now that’s a Hollywood ending. 

“That'd be fantastic if I could go and get something like that,” he said. “I've been around for so many years, and I feel like I match up well against anyone in the division. You never know if I get a nice little bit of luck on my side.”

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Hey, it happened for Grant’s countryman, Michael Bisping, when he got a short notice title shot against a man who previously beat him, Luke Rockhold, and made the most of that opportunity. Again, it would be a Hollywood ending, but for the time being, Grant is focused on what’s ahead of him and what he can do to put himself in position to get even bigger opportunities. 

“Give me anybody,” he said. “I'm here to make as much money as I can be before I retire. It was a bit scary after the last injury when my neck went really bad and it was like, could it possibly have been career ending? That was scary. So to get back out there, it's not like I’m on borrowed time, but I feel lucky to still be able to compete. So I'm taking care of myself and I want to get as many fights as possible. If I can go and knock the next three or four guys out, then yeah, I might get the title shot. But I feel like it's a tough division; there's a lot of big names and a lot of big characters, so it's going to be hard, but it'll never be out of sight. I think with the way I fight, I'm literally a couple of knockouts from knocking people out in the top five. I've got wins over three of the people who've been the Top 15 for the last few months, maybe just outside. So I feel like it's never too far away, but we'll just have to see what happens.”