LAS VEGAS -- The diagonal scar on the bridge of Alexis Daviss nose seems par for the course for a UFC fighter. The story behind the mark predates cage-fighting, however. "It was from when I was a kid, actually," the Canadian bantamweight admitted with a smile. "I was playing around with my sister. I say she pushed me, but she says I tripped." The 29-year-old from Port Colborne, Ont., who fights out of San Jose, has had her share of fight cuts that have morphed into scars. But they are hidden nicely by her eyebrows. The other good news is blood does not bother Davis. In fact, it can spur her into action as in a November 2013 win over Liz Carmouche when she turned it up a notch after being cut over her eye. "It kind of wakes you up a little bit more. Youre like, Yup, that was a good shot. Now its my turn," said Davis. Suffice to say, theres more to the soft-spoken Davis than meets the eye. That seems to have escaped the bookmakers, who have made unbeaten champion (Rowdy) Ronda Rousey a prohibitive favourite to dispatch Davis -- ranked No. 2 among 135-pound contenders -- in the co-main event of UFC 175 on Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. Middleweight champion Chris Weidman takes on former light-heavyweight title-holder Lyoto (The Dragon) Machida in the main event. Rousey (9-0) ranged from a 9-1 to 14-1 favourite as of Friday. The UFC had her as a 10-1 favourite. The bookies clearly havent been to Daviss home, which comes complete with fold-up wrestling mats stashed in the living room. When youre an elite UFC fighter and married to a fellow black belt in jiu-jitsu, you like to be able to put a theory in action when something new and exciting pops into your mind. Davis (16-5) met husband-to-be Flavio Meier three years ago at his gym in California. An accomplished black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu (his titles include the 2011 Pan-American championship for black belts) and taekwondo, he is a head instructor at the Institute of Martial Arts in San Jose. Meier, who moved to the U.S. from Brazil in 1999, says it was love at first sight -- for him. "But I had to work a little bit for her," he said. That was three years ago. They married a year ago, with Meiers three boys -- now aged four, 10 and 13 -- from a previous marriage coming as part of the package. "Its another side of her that a lot of people dont know," he said. "How caring and what a great person she is. The kids love her." The 39-year-old Meier says Daviss healthy lifestyle and work ethic are great examples for the kids. The whole family trains at the gym -- even the four-year-old takes a kids class. "Hes got a dangerous armbar," joked Davis. Meier says he finds it a lot easier competing himself than watching his wife fight. "I get nervous. I dont show her but I do get nerves a lot," he said. When it comes to jiu-jitsu, both say the other is better. "He always says that I beat him up but he beats me up all the time," said Davis, who has a black belt in both Brazilian and Japanese jiu-jitsu. "Im not saying this in bias because shes my wife, but to me she is the best in the world in jiu-jitsu," said Meier. "In MMA, for sure." The 27-year-old Rousey, however, is the UFCs resident rock star. At the UFCs media day Thursday, more than a dozen reporters and four cameras were waiting in front of Rouseys chair in advance of the start. There was one Canadian reporter in front of Daviss station. Davis has no complaints. The spotlight is new to her and, while not averse to it, she is still getting used to it. "Im just a girl from a small town," she said. "Its crazy the different steps Ive taken in my life and how far Ive come. All the way to California now. Im in a video game. How cool is that? Its incredible, its almost like unreal to me. But its great. I love it." Davis has enjoyed every stop of her MMA journey. "Lifes an adventure," she said. "Its taken me to a lot of places and Ive met great people." In Rousey, she is meeting a finisher. The champion has never gone the distance and her average fight time over her night-fight career is just two minutes 44 seconds. Rousey has used her judo takedown successfully in 12 of 17 attempts in the UFC for a 70.6 per cent success rate (the average UFC takedown rate is 41 per cent.) On the Davis side of the balance, the Canadian has never been submitted in 21 fights. She has outlanded her five previous opponents and scores well in the clinch. Asked about the showdown, former UFC lightweight and welterweight champion B.J. Penn lists off Rouseys strengths and successes. "What Alexis should have is a lot of hunger to be that woman and thats how she can get the job done," he said. A veteran of the sport, Davis had compiled a 9-4 record before Rousey made her pro MMA debut in March 2011. Davis made her pro debut in April 2007, losing by TKO to fellow Canadian Sarah Kaufman. Davis lost again to Kaufman, now ranked fifth among UFC bantamweight contenders, by majority decision in Strikeforce in March 2012. She says the second Kaufman showcased the old Alexis Davis -- "Im just going out there and Im just going to bang and I dont care what happens. You kind of take a lot of shots that way." Davis has won five fights in a row since, coinciding with her move to California and ability to take advantage of a larger and more diverse pool of training partners. She worked with Cesar Gracie before settling at the Institute of Martial Arts, owned by eight-time jiu-jitsu world champion Caio Terra who will be in her corner Saturday along with Meier. Davis added two-hour trips twice a week to Sacramento to her training camp this time, to work on her wrestling with Uriah Fabers Team Alpha Male. The thought is wrestling may help control the explosive throws of Rousey, who won Olympic bronze in judo. "They always say that wrestling is like the anti-judo," said Davis. But Davis, who speaks of Rousey with real respect, says its hard to prepare for the champion because Rousey evolves every time she fights. "Its like a whole new Ronda were seeing every time," said Davis. While Rousey is known for her armbar, she has good standup and stopped Sara McMann with a knee to the body. "I want the fight to go to the ground," said Davis. "I just want it to go on my terms." But she says she is comfortable wherever the fight goes. Davis has worked hard on her standup game and has good kicks, although she says she sometimes forgets to use them. The five-foot-six Canadian believes the fight will either end in the first round or go five rounds. The two women have shown plenty of mutual respect, exchanging a warm handshake after posing in front of the media Thursday. Rousey and Davis are the only female fighters to go 3-0 in the UFC. But while Rousey has made movies ("The Expendables 3," "Entourage" and "Fast and Furious 7"), earned ESPY Award nominations and appeared on the cover of ESPN The Magazine, Davis has flown under the radar. Asked whether she has treated herself with any of her UFC fight paycheques, Davis admits only to buying a new TV. "Were kind of saving up," she said. "Id like to eventually buy a house." A win Saturday would make Davis only the third Canadian to hold a UFC title, following Carlos (Ronin) Newton and Georges St-Pierre. It would also change her world. Despite the lopsided odds, Meier says bet on it. "Saturday shes going to shock the world," he said. "I know this for sure." Joe Corona Jersey . LOUIS -- Alexander Steen scored a power-play goal with 59. Juan Agudelo Jersey . THE THUNDER & PACERS BENCHES: In a nutshell, not impressive at all. http://www.usasoccerauthority.com/paul-arriola-usa-jersey/. Watch the game live on TSN and TSN GO at 9pm et/6pm pt. Serge Ibaka returned to the Thunder lineup from a calf injury that was supposed to sideline him for the remainder of the postseason and the results were sparkling. Nick Rimando USA Jersey . According to TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger, the Maple Leafs have trade offers on the table for the 26-year-old, but none have been deemed acceptable by the team. Andrija Novakovich Jersey . According to a release sent by the league, the Saskatchewan Roughriders were the only team to exceed the cap. Their total salary expenditure of $4,417,975 was $17,975 over the salary cap of $4.NEW YORK -- After three long games on the road, the Brooklyn Nets made quick work of Cleveland back at home. Paul Pierce scored 17 of his 22 points in a flawless first quarter, and the Nets pulled away in the second on the way to their 12th straight home victory, 108-97 over the Cavaliers on Friday night. "It was great for him to come out and get us started and get us going, and then that second group kind of finished it off," Nets guard Deron Williams said. Joe Johnson added 14 points for the Nets, who played three straight overtime games on their road trip, losing the last two of them. But things were much easier inside Barclays Center, where they won for the 19th time in their last 21 games. "It sure beats us getting booed earlier in the year," Pierce said. "So were playing well here. We feel comfortable on our home turf." The Nets are hoping to open the playoffs here, but still have work to do to catch either Toronto or Chicago for home-court advantage in the first round. They are 2 1/2 games behind the Raptors for first place in the Atlantic Division and 1 1/2 behind the Bulls for the No. 4 spot in the Eastern Conference. The Nets were without Kevin Garnett for a 15th straight game because of back spasms and Andrei Kirilenko for a third in a row because of a sprained left ankle, but had six players score in double figures and shot 55 per cent from the field. They scored the first 12 points of the second quarter to break away from a 29-all tie, and Cleveland never put much of a dent in the lead. Brooklyn had a 48-18 advantage in bench points in improving to 28-12 since Jan. 1, best in the East. "Thats who we are. If were going to go anywhere in this playoffs, were a team full of depth. Weve got a number of guys that can beat you on any given night, its not really surrounded around one particular guy," Pierce said. "Tonight I was our leading scorer, but then it can be somebody else tomorrow, the next game and thats what makes us so dangerous." Luol Deng and Dion Waiters each scored 20 points for the Cavaliers, who had won three in a row.ddddddddddddThey had pulled off a pair of big fourth-quarter comebacks during the win streak, beating Detroit on Wednesday on Waiters jumper as time expired, but there was no run in this one. "Ive come to the conclusion of expecting more from us. Thats whats disappointing," Cleveland coach Mike Brown said. "Its disappointing to play the way we did tonight. Its tough to swallow." Williams and Alan Anderson each scored 13 points for Brooklyn, which improved to 11-4 this month and can tie the franchise record for most victories in March by beating Minnesota here Sunday night. Williams made a 3-pointer and Pierce hit two straight for a 9-0 Brooklyn lead, and Pierce was 4 for 4 before the first was half over. But Spencer Hawes and Deng led a solid finish to the quarter that allowed Cleveland to tie it at 29. The Nets were even better to open the second, scoring 12 straight to make it 41-29 on Andersons 3-pointer. The lead reached 17 on a 3-pointer by Pierce with 2:05 remaining, and Brooklyn took a 61-50 lead into halftime. Six players had at least four points in the quarter. Cleveland cut Brooklyns 16-point lead in the third in half by the end of the quarter, but the Nets quickly regained control by opening the fourth with an 8-1 spurt for a 15-point cushion. "Weve got to do a better job coming out in the first quarter," Waiters said, "not always falling down by a big margin." NOTES: Brooklyns Jorge Gutierrez made some money and lost some Friday. Shortly after the Nets signed him to a multiyear deal after the expiration of his second 10-day contract, the rookie point guard was fined $15,000 by the NBA for making excessive contact above the shoulders when he fouled Charlottes Cody Zeller on Wednesday. ... After opening the season against each other with the Cavs win in Cleveland on Oct. 30, they will finish things off in the same spot on April 16. ' ' '