Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Alexis “Ally-Gator” Davis showcased her slick submission skills and gained a measure of revenge tonight at UFC 186: “Johnson vs Horiguchi” in Montréal, Québec, Canada. Davis submitted rival Sarah Kaufman in the second round of their bantamweight trilogy fight.

Earlier on tonight’s card, Valérie “Trouble” Létourneau made a successful strawweight debut with a Unanimous Decision victory over TUF 18 finalist Jessica “The Ragin'” Rakoczy. Also at 115, Randa “Quiet Storm” Markos outpointed Aisling “Ais The Bash” Daly in an action-packed matchup.

Davis (17-6-0) and Kaufman (17-3-0, 1 ND) faced off on two occasions prior to tonight’s trilogy fight. Kaufman won the pair’s first meeting in April 2007 by third-round TKO, and she eked out a razor-thin Majority Decision over Davis in a March 2012 Strikeforce rematch. Kaufman got off to a strong start tonight, but Davis rallied in round two to secure the impressive submission.

In round one, Kaufman pressed the action with punching combinations that caused Davis’s face to swell up. As the round progressed, Kaufman landed knees to the body and she backed Davis up with more hard punches. Davis attempted a takedown, but Kaufman defended well and she finished the round with another combination to take an early lead on the scorecards.

It was more of the same in the opening minute of round two, as Kaufman snapped Davis’s head back with a four-punch flurry. Davis closed the distance and threw Kaufman to the mat. From mount, Davis locked on a triangle choke. Kaufman rolled her over and managed to escape from the choke, but Davis quickly transitioned to a tight armbar and the former Strikeforce champion was forced to submit at the 1:52 mark of round two.

Davis’s big victory tonight got her back on track following a devastating 16-second loss to UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey in July. She has now won six of her past seven fights and avenged one of her two past losses to Kaufman tonight.

In a battle between former bantamweights, Létourneau (7-3-0) outstruck Rakoczy (1-5-0, 1 ND) on the feet and threatened with numerous submission attempts on the ground en route to a well-deserved Unanimous Decision win. Létourneau countered an early takedown by trapping Rakoczy in a tight triangle choke. She added in a straight armbar as well, and Rakoczy was in all sorts of trouble, but she refused to submit and escaped out the back. Létourneau mounted her and attempted an arm-triangle choke, but Rakoczy escaped again and she rallied late with punches from the scarf hold position.

Létourneau mixed up her strikes with stiff jabs and punch-kick combos in the second round. She fought off Rakoczy’s attempts to clinch and scored with a series of kicks to Rakoczy’s legs and body. In the final round, Létourneau took advantage of Rakoczy’s badly swollen right eye by targeting that side of her body with lead hooks and head kicks. She threw more kicks as the round progressed and prevented Rakoczy from landing anything significant. Shortly before time expired, Létourneau took Rakoczy down into mount to further seal the round in her favour.

Scores were 30-27 and 29-28 twice for Létourneau, who took the Unanimous Decision victory in her strawweight debut. She is now 2-0 inside the Octagon.

Opening up the action tonight, Markos (5-2-0) took a hard-fought Unanimous Decision victory over Daly (15-6-0) in a short-notice addition to the card. TUF 20 semi-finalist Markos scored with a series of hard right hands in round one and she reversed a takedown into mount. Daly gave up her back and Markos threatened with rear-naked chokes and an arm-triangle choke. Daly escaped and secured a late takedown, but round one belonged to the Canadian.

Markos threw Daly to the mat in round two and landed short left hands from the scarf hold position. Daly escaped to her feet and the fighters scrambled on the ground after Daly took Markos down. Daly cut Markos with elbows from the top and she tried for a standing rear-naked choke before the bell. With the fight even, Markos once again took Daly down into the scarf hold position in round three. She peppered Daly with punches until Daly scrambled up. Markos reversed a takedown into mount and she attacked with an armbar, but Daly survived until the final bell.

One judge saw the fight 30-27 for Markos, while the remaining two both had it 29-28 in her favour. The talented and well-rounded fighter remains one of the most underrated competitors in the women’s strawweight division, but she took a big step up towards title contention with tonight’s impressive win.

(Photo Credit: UFC)