All the talk of a potential Ronda Rousey vs Gina Carano UFC superfight can be put on hold for now.
Canadian Alexis Davis will face Rousey for the UFC women’s bantamweight title at UFC 175 July 5 in Las Vegas.
UFC president Dana White announced the matchup Friday night.
Port Colborne, Ont.’s Davis (16-5) is on a five-fight win streak including UFC victories over Rosi Sexton, Liz Carmouche and Jessica Eye.
Rousey (9-0) is coming off the first TKO win of her career when she stopped Sara McMann with a knee to the body just 66 seconds into the first round of the UFC 170 main event in February. Prior to that fight, all of Rousey’s wins had come by her signature armbar maneuver.
White has stated that Cat Zingano is still the division’s No. 1 contender, however the 31-year-old has been recovering from knee surgery and the death of her husband. It’s unknown when she will be ready to return to the UFC.
It had also recently been reported that Rousey was interested in a fight with Carano. The women’s MMA pioneer, who hasn’t competed since 2009, recently said she is considering a comeback to the sport.
Rousey and Davis are the only members of the women’s bantamweight division currently 3-0 in the UFC.
UFC 175 takes place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center and is scheduled to be headlined by a middleweight title fight between Chris Weidman and Lyoto Machida. The event also features a light-heavyweight bout between TUF Brazil coaches Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva, a middleweight bout pinning rising middleweight star Uriah Hall against Thiago Santos, plus a reported bout featuring Dan Henderson versus Daniel Cormier.
