Alexis Davis Earns Hard Fought Split Decision Over Liz Carmouche in UFC Flyweight Debut
A new contender has arrived in the UFC women's flyweight division as Alexis Davis picked up a win in her 125-pound debut on Saturday night in Fresno.
It was familiar territory for Davis, who earned a split decision victory over the always tough Liz Carmouche in a rematch of a bout the two fighters had back in 2013 while competing in the bantamweight division.
Davis showed off her power in the clinch early, much like her first fight with Carmouche, but this time she wasn't able to advance her position and referee Frank Trigg ultimately restarted the fighters in the center.
It was Carmouche who then landed a takedown of her own as she took Davis to the mat and began working her ground and pound attack from the top.
The decision to take a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt to the mat nearly backfired on Carmouche when Davis locked up a tight armbar from the bottom, extending the elbow and nearly getting the submission. Unfortunately for Davis, time ran out in the round before she could get the finish.
Davis wasted no time grabbing a kick from Carmouche in the second round and taking her to the ground. Davis stayed in control for the majority of the five-minute session but she wasn't able to do much damage with Carmouche playing defense on the ground.
With about a minute to go in the round, the fighters were stood up and Carmouche managed a takedown of her own with just seconds remaining but the horn sounded almost immediately after the fight hit the ground.
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Knowing that she was possibly down after the first two rounds, Carmouche came out swinging heavy leather in the third, connecting with her best punches of the fight and starting to pour on the punishment as Davis was definitely wobbled for a moment.
Carmouche opted for another takedown rather than staying on the feet and once again it nearly cost her as Davis grabbed onto her arm for a second time, nearly locking up the submission. Carmouche stayed patient and eventually slipped free before getting back on top of Davis on the mat.
What do we think about this decision? #UFCFresno pic.twitter.com/DYbay4La1n
— UFC (@ufc) December 10, 2017
The fight came to an end after three rounds with the judges ending in a split decision with Davis getting the nod 29-28 from two scorecards with the third going 29-28 for Carmouche.
It was a grueling battle over all 15 minutes, but Davis kicked off her flyweight career with a win as she will undoubtedly jump into the top 10 rankings next week as she takes a step towards title contention at 125 pounds.
