Alexis Davis moved one step closer to challenging for the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship with a huge split-decision victory over Jessica Eye at UFC 170 in Las Vegas.
Davis wasn’t able to convince all three judges that she won the bout, but she did enough to win the two rounds on two of the judges’ scorecards and pick up the crucial win.
The first round saw Eye get off to a strong start. The Cleveland-based fighter utilized some crisp boxing and a strong clinch game to close the distance and outpoint Davis on the feet. Davis would set the tone for the second round with a takedown late in the first round, though.
Once in the second round, the fight officially turned into Davis’ favor as she rocked Eye early in the round and gained dominant position on the ground.
The round was highlighted by a 44-15 disparity in total strikes landed for Davis, per FightMetric, easily the most dominant round turned in by either fighter.
Better prepared for Davis’ takedown attempts in the third and final frame, Eye was able to avoid Davis’ attempts to drag the fight to the mat once again and successfully kept the fight standing. Davis was able to edge her out in the significant strikes category anyway, though, 31-27.
However, it wouldn’t be enough to impress the judges as she earned the nod on just one of the cards and was unable to pull out the win.
Eye recently made headlines for testing positive for cannabinoids, per Fox Sports. The positive test overturned her original split-decision victory against Sarah Kaufmann at UFC 166. Now the promising 27-year-old is still seeking her first official win inside the UFC Octagon.
Davis, however, has had no difficulty in getting her hand raised since coming to the UFC. With the win, she now has three straight wins in the UFC, including one over former title challenger Liz Carmouche.
Adding her two fight win-streak that she brought to the organization from Invicta FC, and she has one of the best cases to be next in line to take on the winner of UFC 170’s main event between Ronda Rousey and Sara McMann for the title.
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