UFC 186 lost one Canadian, but it’ll be getting two more.
Alexis Davis and Sarah Kaufman, two of the country’s most well-known women’s MMA fighters, will clash for the third time at UFC 186 on April 25 in Montreal, the UFC announced Tuesday. Rory MacDonald, another Canadian, was pulled from the card Tuesday after it was found out that his opponent Hector Lombard failed a drug test for anabolic steroids.
Kaufman (17-2, 1 NC) has beaten Davis twice in her career. The last time came via majority decision at Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey in March 2012. The first was Davis’ MMA debut in 2007.
Kaufman, a 29-year-old Victoria, British Columbia native, has just one loss since then, to UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey. Kaufman has not fought since beating Leslie Smith last April. Overall, she has five wins in her last seven fights and remains one of the best 135-pound women in the world.
Davis (16-6) fell to Rousey by TKO in just 16 seconds at UFC 175 last July. Before that, she had won five in a row, including three in the UFC. The 30-year-old Port Colborne, Ontario native’s last loss before the Rousey bout was against Kaufman. Davis, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, is still ranked No. 3 among UFC women’s bantamweight contenders, two spots ahead of Kaufman.
Kaufman had recently called out Miesha Tate, but Tate probably wouldn’t be ready due to a broken orbital she obtained in a UFC 183 win over Sara McMann on Jan. 31.
UFC 186 will be headlined by a bantamweight title fight between champion T.J. Dillashaw and former champ Renan Barao. The co-main event, just added Tuesday, will pit flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson against Kyoji Horiguchi. The event marks the UFC’s first trip back to Montreal’s Bell Centre since March 2013.