Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will ask women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey to defend her 135-pound title against Alexis Davis at the upcoming UFC 175 pay-per-view (PPV) event, which takes place inside Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, on July 5, 2014.
UFC President Dana White tweeted the surprise match up on Friday night.
This puts to bed any and all rumors that former Strikeforce featherweight contender Gina Carano was going to get first dibs on the "Rowdy" champion, despite her almost five year hiatus. "Conviction" met with the UFC brass earlier this week to try to work out a deal.
No dice ... at least for now.
Davis (16-5) is the only female fighter besides Rousey (9-0) to notch three wins inside the Octagon, following the creation of the women's division back in early 2013. In addition, the "Ally-Gator" has won five in a row, and holds victories over Shayna Baszler and Liz Carmouche, just to name a few.
She may not be a household name (like this one), but she's certainly earned the right to fight for the title.
Her inclusion casts a shadow of doubt over the future of Cat Zingano. "Alpha" was injured last year prior to the filming of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 18, then suffered a horrific personal tragedy, but recently appeared on AXS TV (watch it here) to claim her spot as division number one contender.
She hasn't been heard from since.
UFC 175 will feature a middleweight main event between reigning champion, Chris Weidman, defending his 185-pound title against former light heavyweight kingpin Lyoto Machida. In the co-main event, Wanderlei Silva will try to silence his fellow Ultimate Fighter (TUF): "Brazil 3" coach Chael Sonnen.
To see the current UFC 175 fight card and line up click here.