Can Alexis Davis (pictured) pull off an upset over reigning undefeated UFC women's bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey? We'll find out this week.

By Jesse Heitz

We’re just days away from UFC 175, which features one of the promotions most popular fighters, Ronda Rousey.  On this card she’ll take on a dangerous opponent in Alexis Davis.  This bout has led to some interesting pieces calling for an upset.

A recent article published by the Bleacher Report commented on the need for Rousey to be defeated, stating,

“Ronda Rousey is a woman possessed whenever she steps into the Octagon, which she will do for the third time in less than seven months at UFC 175 against Alexis Davis. She’s been the biggest female star in mixed martial arts for two years but has lacked a real challenge.

That’s why Rousey’s matchup with Davis is so important for the future of women’s mixed martial arts, especially if Davis pulls off the upset.

Right now, the former Olympian is the only viable drawing card in that division to the point where she’s been the only female featured on the main card of a pay-per-view.

No one will be shocked if Rousey wins at UFC 175, but it’s in the best interest of the sport if someone new is wearing the belt.”

Now if we put aside the rather bizarre “woman possessed” comment, which one finds strange because most successful fighters enter the cage to do battle and seem “possessed”, we can get to the meat of these comments.

I’m not sure if I’d agree that Rousey hasn’t faced a real challenge yet.  I think it’s a bit of a stretch to effectively argue that Sara McMann, Miesha Tate (x2), Liz Carmouche, and Sarah Kaufman, are anything short of top-tier fighters.

Now I get it, and I generally support the notion that a rather routine changing of the championship guard is a good thing.  Now is it good for business, I don’t know.  Longstanding champions like Georges St-Pierre and Anderson Silva drew significant numbers even though they routinely ran through the opposition.  So, it may be that an increasing number of people tune in and pay top dollar to see a champion lose.

For example, will Chris Weidman draw the numbers that Silva did, even during the latter stages of his multi-year championship run when the middleweight division had been thoroughly depleted?  I suppose the question is, have we gotten to the point of diminishing returns with Rousey already, particularly given that she’s only had eight career fights?