Davis returns to action Saturday
Canadian Alexis Davis returns to action Saturday with a surgically repaired shoulder and a renewed zest for fighting.
The 36-year-old from Port Colborne, Ont., who now makes her home in California, steps into the cage for the first time in 19 months when she takes on Sabina (Colombian Queen) Mazo on a UFC Fight Night card in Las Vegas.
Davis (19-10-0) is looking to snap a three-fight losing streak.
“I believe in myself 100 per cent,” she said in an interview. “And I feel like I’m a way better fighter than I’ve been able to showcase.
“People don’t understand, it’s not about your athletic ability so much as it for your mindset. And I think that’s been a huge change for me, and you know what, I like new beginnings. I feel really good. I feel happy. I’m actually excited to fight. That’s something I feel like I was missing about my last few (fights). I didn’t quite have that same energy, same excitement that I’ve had before.
“It’s hard after you’ve been doing it so long.”
Davis had her first pro fight in 2007 — losing to fellow Canadian Sarah Kaufman — and competed in Strikeforce and Invicta FC before moving to the UFC.
Thirteen months and three wins later, she challenged (Rowdy) Ronda Rousey for the UFC bantamweight title at UFC 175. Rousey, then unbeaten and at the height of her powers, lived up to her billing as 10-1 favourite when she needed just 16 seconds to end the fight.
Davis won three of her next four fights and took time out to have her son before dropping her last three outings.
Davis lost a decision to Viviane Araujo last time out at UFC 240 in Edmonton in July 2019. The defeat prompted her to seek help for her shoulder which had been damaged two fights earlier against Katlyn Chookagian in July 2018.
“I feel so much better and so much more confident now that I’ve got it repaired,” she said.