The UFC’s brand-new women’s flyweight division has its first official veteran contender: Alexis Davis.

Davis (19-7 MMA, 6-2 UFC) took a split decision from Liz Carmouche (11-6 MMA, 3-4 UFC) in a rematch between a pair of former bantamweight title contenders. She won with a pair of 29-28 scores to make her 2-0 against Carmouche, inluding their first UFC bout in 2013.

The women’s flyweight bout closed out the preliminary card of today’s UFC Fight Night 123 event at Save Mart Center in Fresno, Calif. It aired on FS1 following additional prelims on UFC Fight Pass and ahead of a main card on FS1.

Davis landed a right out of the gate, and Carmouche fired back with a kick of the middle. When Davis tied her up, Carmouche peppered her with short uppercuts. The two battled for position along the fence. With three minutes left, referee Frank Trigg split the two up to see more action. Shortly after that, Carmouche got a trip takedown and brought the fight to the canvas. There, she looked for a guillotine choke with Davis up against the fence. She couldn’t get anything done, and staying on the canvas allowed Davis to lock in a tight armbar in the final 40 seconds. Carmouche survived it, but it was a solid rally from Davis late.

The two traded kicks in the second, and Davis was able to use one to trip Carmouche to the canvas. Davis quickly followed her to the canvas and got on top in Carmouche’s guard. Davis stayed just busy enough to keep Trigg from standing them up, and it kept Carmouche mostly defensive until 50 seconds were left in the round. By then, Trigg had seen enough of the position and put them back on the feet. Carmouche fired away aggressively, hoping to land a shot that could steal the round. She got a late takedown just before the horn to go to the third.

Carmouche came out firing inte the third, likely believing she was down two rounds. And 45 seconds in, she put together a big combination against Davis, popping her head back. But Carmouche elected to take Davis down rather than stay after the finish on the feet. It allowed Davis to try for a triangle choke, but if nothing else it kept Carmouche from landing the kind of punches that could end the fight – the kind she landed moments earlier.

Davis worked for an armbar and got it, but Carmouche slammed her way out of it and got to side control. Davis tried to turn away and appeared to be tiring out, but she recovered to full guard with 90 seconds left. Davis was able to reverse position late and battered Carmouche until the horn.

Davis won for the second straight time. Carmouche had a two-fight winning streak snapped.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 123 results include:

• Alexis Davis def. Liz Carmouche via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Andre Soukhamthath def. Luke Sanders via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 1:06
• Alex Perez def. Carls John de Tomas via submission (D’Arce choke) – Round 2, 1:54
• Frankie Saenz def. Merab Dvalishvili via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Alejandro Perez def. Iuri Alcantara via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
• Davi Ramos def. Chris Gruetzemacher via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 0:50
• Trevin Giles def. Antonio Braga Neto via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 2:27

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 123, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s John Morgan contributed to this report on site in Fresno.)