ALFIE DAVIS is out to bring a world title and $500,000 cash prize back home to his kickboxing pupils – after they gave him tips on how to win.
Davis is in the final of the Professional Fighters League’s winner-take-all finale bout next weekend in North Carolina against Gadzhi Rabadanov.
And not only is the lightweight belt on the line – but so is a bonus cheque of $500,000 (£375,000).
He hopes to put some of the money back into his kickboxing academy – which he runs three days a week from a church hall in Putney.
Davis coaches four-year-olds all the way up to senior fighters – all of whom are his biggest fans – and sometimes critics.
He told SunSport with a chuckle: “They’re like, ‘So why in this fight did you do this? What happened here?’
“I think they’re just curious, but yeah, it’s quite funny. Some of the youngsters do watch it and they can be – especially kids – the most critical.
“They’re just honest, so I’ve been done by kids a few times!”
Some of the older lads in his class have also been studying 2024 PFL champion Rabadanov – who awaits Davis in the finale fight.
And Davis said: “Some of the teenage boys that I teach have seen him, and they were like, ‘He’s good, he looks like he’s got a good knockout power, hasn’t he?’
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“But equally one the boys in question is quite well educated and said, ‘But some of his knockouts have only been recent.’
“He wasn’t a really a knockout artist previously before and a few of them were a bit dodgy knockouts – I wouldn’t say lucky – but I don’t think he’s got a one shot kill.
“I think that was the assessment that he also gave as well.”
Davis lost his PFL debut in November 2024 and entered the three-bout tournament this year as an outsider.
He got off to the worst start possible in the quarter-finals after suffering US visa issues.
Eventually it was resolved by Wednesday – allowing Davis to board the first flight out to Florida – before having to make weight and fight 36 hours later.
But he did so – beating Clay Collard – before upsetting ex-Bellator champion Brent Primus to reach the final.
It puts him one win away from winning the title gold and the cash prize.
That kind of money will go towards his wife and two sons – aged four and two – so long as he can avoid the temptation to splurge.
Davis, 33, said: “I’ve got like a good person on my shoulder and a bad person!
“I’ve been researching like how to invest the money, buying a bigger house, obviously I’ve got children.
“It’s a lot of money, so all of that stuff is the good person and then they’ve got a devil on my back that’s like, ‘Let’s go and let’s have it double large! I think it’s gonna be a bit of both.
“But, to be honest, my wife’s spent most of the money already in her head as well, so I’ve got to contend with that as well!
“But, yeah, there’s definitely some things that I’d like to do in terms of investment.”
