An Armbar is contagious
Davis’ last fight was infamous, where she lost to Rousey to KO a mere 16 seconds into the first round. (One could argue that poor Zingano had then rescued Davis from being remembered for Davis’ dismal loss by losing to Rousey in an armbar within 14 seconds.) It is hard to believe Davis was Davis as she faced Rousey in the ring. She is a strong, confident fighter who had not earned her way to the top by not coping with fear, but it was obvious to any MMA spectators who have seen plenty of fear on TV screens in their life time that Davis was petrified as she approached Rousey in the Octagon last July. Davis and Kaufman’s prior two fights were dominated by striking especially the one in 2012 were both women were bloodied and stained the Octagon with a startling number of strikes. Thus it was not a surprise that Davis had worked on submission. It is impressive to see Davis come back not just from a loss vs Rousey that could have permanently crippled anyone’s confident level, but to face another fighter whom she had lost to twice in her career, then to withstand a first round where she took a heavy beating from Kaufman before turning the game around with an arm bar.
