Holly Holm to face Raquel Pennington at UFC 243
Former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm will be returning to the place where she shocked the MMA world. Back at UFC 193 in Melbourne, Australia, Holm upset former undefeated champion Ronda Rousey with a second-round KO victory that shook up the UFC and MMA as a whole, with Holm becoming the second-ever women’s bantamweight champion in her victory. For the first time since that night, Holm will be returning to fight in Melbourne according to ESPN.
According to Brett Okamoto of ESPN, citing Dana White, Holm will face former bantamweight title challenger Raquel Pennington at UFC 243 on October 5. The fight between Holm and Pennington will be a rematch of their fight from 2015 at UFC 184 which saw Holm come away with a split decision victory in her UFC debut.
Most recently, Holly Holm (12-5, 5-5 UFC) suffered a first-round knockout loss to current champion Amanda Nunes at UFC 239 which called for some, including UFC President Dana White to bring up the thought of retirement for Holm, but that was quickly shot down by “The Preacher’s Daughter”.
As for Holm’s opponent, Raquel Pennington, is coming off a split decision victory over Irene Aldana back at UFC San Antonio in July, which ended her two-fight losing streak. Prior to the skid, Pennington went on a four-fight winning streak with notable wins over former bantamweight champion Miesha Tate and current strawweight champion Jessica Andrade.
Pennington’s four-fight winning streak earned her a title shot against current champion Amanda Nunes in a fight that saw the champion victorious but also saw Pennington display her heart and toughness in the fight that would end in the fifth round. Pennington shared her excitement about the rematch on Tuesday night through her Twitter account.
Who’s ready for the rematch??? 🔥🔥🔥 cuz I know I’ve been waiting!!!! #TeamRocky #ufc #october #Australia pic.twitter.com/IofwhuSEFk
— Raquel Pennington (@RockyPMMA) August 7, 2019
UFC 243 will take place on October 5 in Melbourne, Australia at Marvel Stadium, and will be headlined with a unification of the middleweight title as interim champion Israel Adesanya will challenge current champion Robert Whittaker.
