Holly Holm will return to the site of her iconic knockout of Ronda Rousey for a rematch against another familiar foe.
Holm (12-5 MMA, 5-5 UFC) is set to run it back with Raquel Pennington (10-7 MMA, 7-4 UFC) in a women’s bantamweight bout at October’s UFC 243 event, which takes place in Melbourne, Australia, where she defeated Rousey to claim gold at UFC 193 nearly four years ago.
MMA Junkie verified agreements are in place for the matchup with a person close to the situation following an initial report from ESPN.com. The person requested anonymity because the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.
UFC 243 takes place Oct. 5 at Marvel Stadium. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+/UFC Fight Pass.
Holm, 37, wastes no time returning to action following her title-fight loss to Amanda Nunes at UFC 239 in March. UFC president Dana White questioned whether the former women’s bantamweight titleholder had anything left to prove after failing to regain the belt, but Holm insisted she did.
She will have the opportunity to prove herself in the rematch with Pennington, 30, who welcomed Holm to the UFC in February 2015 with a split-decision loss at UFC 184. Pennington is fresh off a victory over Irene Aldana at UFC on ESPN 4 in July, a fight which snapped skid that included losses to Nunes and Germaine de Randamie.
The latest UFC 243 card now includes:
- Champ Robert Whittaker vs. Interim champ Israel Adesanya – for middleweight title
- Holly Holm vs. Raquel Pennington
- Nadia Kassem vs. Ji Yeon Kim
- Luke Jumeau vs. Dhiego Lima
- Yorgan De Castro vs. Justin Tafa
- Sergey Spivak vs. Tai Tuivasa
- Megan Anderson vs. Zarah Fairn Dos Santos
