The Welsh grappler moved into top position as Fornarino continued her attack on Davies’ legs. Davies attempted to answer with a footlock, but the Aussie shook her head in defiance.
After two tightly contested rounds, the action went into the third and final round, with Fornarino again opting to work off her back, while Davies looked to be more aggressive from the top.
But it seemed like whatever Davies attempted, Fornarino had an answer as she effectively shut down the 2022 world champion’s attempts all the way to the final horn.
At the end of the bout, Fornarino was the one celebrating, while Davies looked less happy with her performance. However, when the judges’ scores were announced, it was Davies who was ruled the winner, with scores of 29-28, 27-30, 29-28.
After her victory, Davies admitted, “That’s not how I want to win. I’ve gotta be honest, I think it was very tight, but I would love a rematch. It doesn’t feel right to me. I’ve just got to be honest, I don’t want to win like that.
“I want a rematch. I would love to have a rematch with Adele.”
A clearly disappointed Fornarino put her frustrations to one side as she paid tribute to her opponent, then spoke of her pride in being able to compete in the headline slot of a Fight Pass International event.
“I don’t want to detract from the fact that this is the first ever female main event on UFC FPI,” she said.
“It’s not something to gloss over. It’s a very momentous occasion and a very historical occasion and we should be celebrating that, and I don’t want to put a dampener on that by any stretch. I hope there’s many more of these to come.”
