LAS VEGAS -- The diagonal scar on the bridge of Alexis Davi

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LAS VEGAS -- The diagonal scar on the bridge of Alexis Daviss nose seems par for the course for a UFC fighter. . The story behind the mark predates cage-fighting, however. "It was from when I was a kid, actually," the Canadian bantamweight admitted with a smile. "I was playing around with my sister. I say she pushed me, but she says I tripped." The 29-year-old from Port Colborne, Ont., who fights out of San Jose, has had her share of fight cuts that have morphed into scars. But they are hidden nicely by her eyebrows. The other good news is blood does not bother Davis. In fact, it can spur her into action as in a November 2013 win over Liz Carmouche when she turned it up a notch after being cut over her eye. "It kind of wakes you up a little bit more. Youre like, Yup, that was a good shot. Now its my turn," said Davis. Suffice to say, theres more to the soft-spoken Davis than meets the eye. That seems to have escaped the bookmakers, who have made unbeaten champion (Rowdy) Ronda Rousey a prohibitive favourite to dispatch Davis -- ranked No. 2 among 135-pound contenders -- in the co-main event of UFC 175 on Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. Middleweight champion Chris Weidman takes on former light-heavyweight title-holder Lyoto (The Dragon) Machida in the main event. Rousey (9-0) ranged from a 9-1 to 14-1 favourite as of Friday. The UFC had her as a 10-1 favourite. The bookies clearly havent been to Daviss home, which comes complete with fold-up wrestling mats stashed in the living room. When youre an elite UFC fighter and married to a fellow black belt in jiu-jitsu, you like to be able to put a theory in action when something new and exciting pops into your mind. Davis (16-5) met husband-to-be Flavio Meier three years ago at his gym in California. An accomplished black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu (his titles include the 2011 Pan-American championship for black belts) and taekwondo, he is a head instructor at the Institute of Martial Arts in San Jose. Meier, who moved to the U.S. from Brazil in 1999, says it was love at first sight -- for him. "But I had to work a little bit for her," he said. That was three years ago. They married a year ago, with Meiers three boys -- now aged four, 10 and 13 -- from a previous marriage coming as part of the package. "Its another side of her that a lot of people dont know," he said. "How caring and what a great person she is. The kids love her." The 39-year-old Meier says Daviss healthy lifestyle and work ethic are great examples for the kids. The whole family trains at the gym -- even the four-year-old takes a kids class. "Hes got a dangerous armbar," joked Davis. Meier says he finds it a lot easier competing himself than watching his wife fight. "I get nervous. I dont show her but I do get nerves a lot," he said. When it comes to jiu-jitsu, both say the other is better. "He always says that I beat him up but he beats me up all the time," said Davis, who has a black belt in both Brazilian and Japanese jiu-jitsu. "Im not saying this in bias because shes my wife, but to me she is the best in the world in jiu-jitsu," said Meier. "In MMA, for sure." The 27-year-old Rousey, however, is the UFCs resident rock star. At the UFCs media day Thursday, more than a dozen reporters and four cameras were waiting in front of Rouseys chair in advance of the start. There was one Canadian reporter in front of Daviss station. Davis has no complaints. The spotlight is new to her and, while not averse to it, she is still getting used to it. "Im just a girl from a small town," she said. "Its crazy the different steps Ive taken in my life and how far Ive come. All the way to California now. Im in a video game. How cool is that? Its incredible, its almost like unreal to me. But its great. I love it." Davis has enjoyed every stop of her MMA journey. "Lifes an adventure," she said. "Its taken me to a lot of places and Ive met great people." In Rousey, she is meeting a finisher. The champion has never gone the distance and her average fight time over her night-fight career is just two minutes 44 seconds. Rousey has used her judo takedown successfully in 12 of 17 attempts in the UFC for a 70.6 per cent success rate (the average UFC takedown rate is 41 per cent.) On the Davis side of the balance, the Canadian has never been submitted in 21 fights. She has outlanded her five previous opponents and scores well in the clinch. Asked about the showdown, former UFC lightweight and welterweight champion B.J. Penn lists off Rouseys strengths and successes. "What Alexis should have is a lot of hunger to be that woman and thats how she can get the job done," he said. A veteran of the sport, Davis had compiled a 9-4 record before Rousey made her pro MMA debut in March 2011. Davis made her pro debut in April 2007, losing by TKO to fellow Canadian Sarah Kaufman. Davis lost again to Kaufman, now ranked fifth among UFC bantamweight contenders, by majority decision in Strikeforce in March 2012. She says the second Kaufman showcased the old Alexis Davis -- "Im just going out there and Im just going to bang and I dont care what happens. You kind of take a lot of shots that way." Davis has won five fights in a row since, coinciding with her move to California and ability to take advantage of a larger and more diverse pool of training partners. She worked with Cesar Gracie before settling at the Institute of Martial Arts, owned by eight-time jiu-jitsu world champion Caio Terra who will be in her corner Saturday along with Meier. Davis added two-hour trips twice a week to Sacramento to her training camp this time, to work on her wrestling with Uriah Fabers Team Alpha Male. The thought is wrestling may help control the explosive throws of Rousey, who won Olympic bronze in judo. "They always say that wrestling is like the anti-judo," said Davis. But Davis, who speaks of Rousey with real respect, says its hard to prepare for the champion because Rousey evolves every time she fights. "Its like a whole new Ronda were seeing every time," said Davis. While Rousey is known for her armbar, she has good standup and stopped Sara McMann with a knee to the body. "I want the fight to go to the ground," said Davis. "I just want it to go on my terms." But she says she is comfortable wherever the fight goes. Davis has worked hard on her standup game and has good kicks, although she says she sometimes forgets to use them. The five-foot-six Canadian believes the fight will either end in the first round or go five rounds. The two women have shown plenty of mutual respect, exchanging a warm handshake after posing in front of the media Thursday. Rousey and Davis are the only female fighters to go 3-0 in the UFC. But while Rousey has made movies ("The Expendables 3," "Entourage" and "Fast and Furious 7"), earned ESPY Award nominations and appeared on the cover of ESPN The Magazine, Davis has flown under the radar. Asked whether she has treated herself with any of her UFC fight paycheques, Davis admits only to buying a new TV. "Were kind of saving up," she said. "Id like to eventually buy a house." A win Saturday would make Davis only the third Canadian to hold a UFC title, following Carlos (Ronin) Newton and Georges St-Pierre. It would also change her world. Despite the lopsided odds, Meier says bet on it. "Saturday shes going to shock the world," he said. "I know this for sure." .The Toronto Raptors guard, who will represent the Eastern Conference at the All-Star Game in New Orleans on Sunday, says he doesnt complain in the face of adversity "because I know this little girl is just happy for anything. .The ruling takes effect on Jan. 1 and stems from the debate surrounding Paralympic champion Markus Rehm, an amputee who won the national long jump title competing with a carbon-fiber prosthesis. . The start of the seasons fifth and final major was delayed two hours due to heavy rain in the area. The tournament eventually began, but with water on the greens and the rain persisting, players were called back to the clubhouse less than an hour after the first group teed off.Greece, Japan eye improvement - 6pm et/3pm pt (TSN 1050, TSN 690, TSN 1200, TEAM 1410) Natal, Brazil - Two teams hoping to rebound from tough opening-game losses will meet when Greece clashes with Japan in Group C action Thursday at Estadio das Dunas. Greece was on the wrong end of a 3-0 rout to Colombia in its first game of the tournament. They surrendered a goal in just the sixth minute of the contest, and despite some promising attacking play, failed to crawl back into the match. Japan, on the other hand, struck first in its match with Ivory Coast, with Keisuke Honda putting his side into the lead in the 16th minute. The Elephants picked up serious momentum in the second half, though, scoring in the 64th and 66th minutes to pull ahead and grab a 2-1 victory. Both teams will be looking to hang onto their hopes of pushing through to the knockout stage with a crucial three points. Greek midfielder Georgios Samaras insisted there was reason for his side to remain positive moving forward after being held without a goal. "We have more to give at this tournament, but I think we showed something today," he said. "It was a strange game. For the first five or six minutes, we didnt seem to be 100 percent in it and we conceded a bad ggoal. . But after that, we had a lot of possession, a lot of pressure, and created some quite good chances." Japan boss Alberto Zaccheroni claimed his men gave their all but were not quite cohesive enough. "We werent aggressive enough and we need to improve on that because weve been playing better than that," he said. Honda had his own take on where things went wrong, believing that Japan didnt have enough possession. "Possession, that is our strength," said Honda. "When we have the ball we just need to keep the ball and not give it away easily. When we do lose the ball we should press immediately. That is our philosophy. The last game we lost the ball too easily so that is how we spent a lot of energy in the first half, that is the point. That is why we must concentrate on keeping the ball." Given the defensive lapses that contributed heavily to these teams opening- match defeats, Greece will be looking to build on those aforementioned positives, while Japan will be hoping to stay composed for a full 90 minutes and do better on the ball. Both teams will also be hoping for a draw in the match between Colombia and Ivory Coast, the two teams looming overhead at the top of the group. ' ' '

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