The UFC 184 event at the Staples Center in Los Angeles will feature Holly Holm vs Raquel Pennington as part of the main card, marking the first time the UFC has filled a card with two female bouts on the main part of the PPV. The co-main event will be Ronda Rousey taking on Cat Zingano.
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This match was originally scheduled for UFC 181 this past December, but Holm pulled out of the fight due to a neck injury. Pennington wound up fighting Ashlee Evans-Smith, finishing the fight at the end of the first round with a choke. Pennington did her job, and thankfully she was OK physically and Holm was not out for a prolonged period of time, as we now get theoriginal fight.
Holm’s UFC debut is highly anticipated as she is an extremely decorated world champion boxer who retured from the sport to pursue a career in MMA. The original line posted for the fight had Holm a considerable favorite, and that will not change here despite a solid showing by Pennington.
Holm’s record in boxing was 33 wins with just two losses and three draws, and she held world titles at super lightweight and welterweight. She dabbled in MMA, but the crossover led to her losing a brutal boxing match against Anne Sophie Mathis. Holm returned to beat Mathis in the rematch, and she fought two more times in boxing before retiring for MMA, where she is now 7-0.
The UFC appears to be taking a wait and see approach with Holm, as they have not unleashed the hype machine for her just yet. Holm is commonly seen as a potential rival for Ronda Rousey that could potentially come to the fight with a lot of heat of her own, but her 7-0 MMA record on smaller shows is not exactly proof positive that she is ready for Rousey. A win over Pennington will get her career started, and hopefully she can stay healthy. A big, impressive win, and you should see the UFC’s hypwe machine get behind Holm very quickly.
Check out the UFC’s video from ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ reality series featuring Raquel Pennington:
