When Alexis Davis steps into the Octagon at UFC 161 against Rosi Sexton Saturday in Winnipeg, UFC history will be made, although the thought of that makes Davis feels a bit awkward.
The 28-year-old Port Colborne, Ont., native will become the first Canadian to compete in the UFC’s new women’s bantamweight division in the first female UFC bout outside of the United States.
“It’s kind of almost weird to say I’m a part of UFC history,” a mild-mannered Davis told sportsnet.ca in a phone interview.
Davis made her professional MMA debut on April 7 in 2007 in Winnipeg back where she fought fellow Canadian Sarah Kaufman. That bout happened to also be a history-making affair, as it was the first female MMA bout in Winnipeg’s history.
Davis, a highly regard grappler, was TKO’d by Kaufman and since that bout the two have steadily risen through the rankings and are considered the two best female mixed martial artists to come out of Canada.
Their careers came full circle when they met in Strikeforce last March in what was considered one of the best fights of 2012. Kaufman edged out Davis again, this time by razor-thin majority decision.
Davis has picked up two impressive submission wins over Hitomi Akano and highly ranked Shayna Baszler since her second loss to Kaufman.
Just as her and Kaufman’s careers came full circle last year, Davis’ history competing in Winnipeg will come full circle at the MTS Centre Saturday.
Aside from her first fight, Davis fought in Winnipeg on one other occasion – a first-round submission win over Kate Roy at Ultimate Cage Wars 12 in July 2008.
Many Canadian fighters have said that they feel a bit more pressure when they fight in their home country, and although there is usually a boost of crowd support, there can often be negative elements to fighting in Canada like added pressure and extra media obligations.
So far, Davis hasn’t experienced any negativity with regards to fighting in Canada, though she admits all the media attention has taken some getting used to.
“I feel like I’m fighting back home, so I feel more comfortable,” Davis said.
“I find that for a lot of women in general there’s a huge support system. Obviously I haven’t fought for the UFC yet but I usually get huge support. I get tweets and emails from people all the time saying how much they enjoyed the fight.”
With all the injuries and changes to the fight card, Davis and Sexton have slowly been bumped up to serve a more prominent role at the first UFC ever event in Manitoba.
Instead of having the extra pressure affect her approach to the fight, Davis is simply excited to put on an entertaining fight for the fans and she believes her style matched with the smaller Sexton’s is the perfect recipe for that.
“It’s a rarity for me to have the height and size advantage, so that a bonus for me, but I think our styles are similar, which sometimes can make a boring fight, but I think it’s going to make a good fight because we’re both aggressive fighters,” Davis said.
Davis has been living and training in San Jose, which she explains has been great for the development of her skills.
“The advantage of being out in California is there’s a something I’ve never had before like the amount of training partners you have,” Davis said.
For example, Davis says used to always procrastinate with honing her wrestling skills, but in San Jose she’s worked extensively on that which has made her a better fighter.
An improved wrestling game, coupled with her Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, makes her one of the most dangerous fighters in her division if the fight hits the mat. She’s also proven she can stand and trade with the best, as her second fight with Kaufman, a former Strikeforce champ, was full of high-impact exchanges on the feet.
She knows wins are what ultimately lead to title shots, but her goal is also to be exciting.
In the hopes of getting the crowd excited, she said she’s going old school with her entrance music. However, she wouldn’t reveal which song she would play when making her first walk to the Octagon.
“I can’t give it away. It’s a secret,” she said.
Pressure’s on, Alexis.
