Gina Carano Talk Aside, Alexis Davis Flies Under the Radar to Get Shot at Ronda Rousey
While talk surrounding UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey lately has centered around possible match-ups against either Gina Carano or Cris “Cyborg” Justino, the UFC surprised everyone by throwing an entirely different name in the mix.
UFC president Dana White on Friday night announced that Alexis Davis would get the next shot at Rousey. The two will square off at UFC 175 on July 5 in Las Vegas.
Most speculation has been centered on Carano, and if the fight with her didn’t come to fruition, Cat Zingano was expected to get a shot.
White didn’t reveal why Zingano wasn’t next up for Rousey, but it could possibly be due to the fact that Zingano has yet to return from severe knee injuries, coupled with the recent loss of her husband to suicide.
Rousey (9-0) returns to the Octagon in July coming off of two victories in two months when she submitted Miesha Tate at UFC 168 in December and then TKO’d Sara McMann in February.
She’s recently been busy filming her role in the movie version of the hit HBO series Entourage, but has stated that summertime would be good for her to return to the Octagon.
Davis (16-5), meanwhile, is coming off of back-to-back victories over Liz Carmouche in November and Jessica Eye in February. Those two victories upped her winning streak to five consecutive bouts since losing a majority decision to Sarah Kaufman under the Strikeforce banner.
UFC 175 is shaping up to be a blockbuster card if there are no changes at top end. Already announced as the headliner is a bout pitting UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman vs. Lyoto Machida. Also scheduled for the card is a grudge match between The Ultimate Fighter Brazil 3 coaches Wanderlei Silva and Chael Sonnen.
