Alexis Davis vs. Sarah Kaufman Added To UFC 186

April 25’s UFC 186 pay-per-view (PPV) event from the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, got a new co-main event when Demetrious Johnson vs. Kyoji Horiguchi took the place of the scrapped Rory MacDonald vs. Hector Lombard welterweight bout in the wake of ‘Showeather’s’ failed post-UFC 182 drug test.

Tonight, the card picked up another high-profile match-up, as the UFC announced that talented women’s bantamweights Alexis Davis and Sarah Kaufman would throw down in a pivotal affair from Montreal.

The No. 3-ranked Davis has been out of action since her devastating 16-second loss to dominant divisional champion Ronda Rousey in the co-main event of July 2014’s UFC 175. Prior to the loss, Davis was the only female UFC fighter other than Rousey to have won three bouts, including victories over Liz Carmouche and Jessica Eye.

Yet she’s lost to Kaufman twice before, the most recent a 2012 majority decision loss under the Strikeforce banner. Former Strikeforce titleholder Kaufman dropped her Octagon debut at UFC 166 to Eye, but the fight was changed to a no contest after Eye tested positive for marijuana metabolites. Kaufman rebounded with her first-ever UFC win by defeating Leslie Smith via unanimous decision at last April’s The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) Nations Finale from Quebec.

Kaufman has won five of her past eight bouts, with her only official losses coming at the hands of Rousey and Marloes Coenen, and is ranked at No. 5 in the division.

With the addition of the top-flight women’s bantamweight match, UFC 186’s crowded lineup currently sits as follows:

T.J. Dillashaw vs. Renan Barao

Champ Demetrious Johnson vs. Kyoji Horiguchi

Quinton Jackson vs. Fabio Maldonado

Michael Bisping vs. C.B. Dollaway

Thomas Almeida vs. Yves Jabouin

Patrick Cote vs. Joe Riggs

Kevin Barnerena vs. Chad Laprise

John Makdessi vs. Abel Trujillo

Olivier Aubin-Mercier vs. David Michaud

Claudio Silva vs. Nordine Taleb

Valerie Letourneau vs. Jessica Rakoczy

Alexis Davis vs. Sarah Kaufman

Photo Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports