Canadian standout Alexis Davis will step in to challenge Shayna “The Queen of Spades” Baszler in the second round of the Freestyle Cage Fighting Women’s Bantamweight Grand Prix. Davis replaces Jennifer “Rosebud” Tate, who withdrew from the tournament after announcing that she was pregnant with her second child.

Already the second-best female fighter in Canada behind only Strikeforce Women’s Welterweight Champion Sarah Kaufman, Davis has battled the best – including Kaufman – during her three-year MMA career.

Davis (7-2-0) made her mixed martial arts debut in April of 2007 against Kaufman and took the current number one-ranked bantamweight to the limit in a three-round battle. She later competed for the Montreal-based TKO promotion and decisioned highly-regarded opponent Valerie Letourneau. Davis has won seven of her last eight fights, with the lone loss coming via third-round stoppage in a 2009 Women’s MMA Fight of the Year war with pound-for-pound queen Tara LaRosa.

No stranger to tough competition, Davis most recently captured her first championship title when she defeated veteran Molly “The Maulinator” Helsel for the Raging Wolf promotion in Niagra Falls, New York. The Ontario native will face another difficult task as she enters the FCF Grand Prix against tournament favourite Baszler, who advanced to the semi-finals by submitting 12-year Japanese veteran Megumi Yabushita with a Twister at FCF 39 on January 30th.

The second round of the FCF Women’s Bantamweight Grand Prix takes place on March 27th at the FireLake Grand Casino in Shawnee, Oklahoma. In addition to the Davis-Baszler bout, the other half of the tournament bracket will be decided when Adrienna “AJ” Jenkins meets hard-hitting striker Jan “Cuddles” Finney. The winners will square off in the tournament final on June 12th, with the victor receiving a guaranteed Strikeforce contract.

Freestyle Cage Fighting Women’s Bantamweight Grand Prix Semi-Finals:

– Shayna “The Queen of Spades” Baszler (10-6-0) vs Alexis Davis (7-2-0)
– Adrienna “AJ” Jenkins (17-2-0) vs Jan “Cuddles” Finney (7-7-0)