Longtime UFC welterweight Marcus Davis will begin his foray into the 155-pound division against Jeremy Stephens at UFC 125 on Jan. 1 in Las Vegas, according to MMAJunkie.com.

Davis (22-7), who competed in season two of The Ultimate Fighter, had a fair amount of success campaigning at 170, going 8-2 in the UFC and picking up wins over Chris Lytle and Mike Swick, before losing three of his last four. In his last fight, Davis suffered a third round submission loss to Nate Diaz at UFC 118.

Recently, Davis hinted at moving down to lightweight, and Stephens (18-6) soon made it known he’d be happy to welcome Davis to 155. Stephens made his thoughts known via Twitter, and took a not so subtle jab at his last opponent, Melvin Guillard.

Many expected fireworks when Stephens and Guillard squared off at UFC 119, but Guillard used his foot speed and movement to get in and out of range, en route to a decision win that didn’t please the Indianapolis crowd. Stephens said that he wanted to fight Davis not out of disrespect, but because he figured Davis wouldn’t try and “run” like his last opponent. The loss to Guillard dropped Stephens’s UFC mark to 5-5.

UFC 125 will feature lightweight champion Frankie Edgar defending his belt against Gray Maynard and featherweight kingpin Jose Aldo defending his title for the first time under the UFC banner against Josh Grispi.

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