Former women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm will return to action to headline on August 1 against surging contender Irene Alanda. Brett Okamoto of ESPN broke the fight news on social media last night, he wrote.
“Breaking: Holly Holm (@HollyHolm) vs. Irene Aldana (@IreneAldana_) to headline UFC Fight Night event on 8/1 in Las Vegas, per sources. Holm coming off Pennington win in January. Aldana has won five of her last six.”
Holm Hoping For Another Shot
Holm will be hoping to earn another shot at the title she once held by beating one of the top contenders at 135lbs. ‘The Preachers Daughter’ returned to winning ways last time out, picking up a decision win over former title challenger Raquel Pennington at UFC 246 in January. Prior to that Holm suffered a first-round knockout loss to dual weight UFC champion Amanda Nunes at UFC 239 in July 2019.
Aldana has slowly been gathering hype, winning five of her past six fights. Her lone loss coming against Pennington in a split decision three fights ago. The Mexican scored a huge KO win over the previously undefeated Ketlen Vieira last time out and will be looking to build on that momentum by claiming the biggest win of her career on August 1.
On the same card top middleweight contenders, Derek Brunson and Edmen Shahbazyan are also expected to clash. Okamoto of ESPN also broke that news on his social media he wrote.
“Breaking: Derek Brunson (@DerekBrunson) vs. Edmen Shahbazyan (@edmenshahbazyan) booked (again) for UFC Fight Night on 8/1, per sources. Third time is a charm. Was booked 3/7 and 4/11 previously.”
As stated this is the third time these two fighters have been scheduled to meet. Long-time contender Bruson heads into the bout off the back of two decision wins over Ian Heinisch and Elias Theodorou. Shahbazyan is just 22 years old and keen to add the biggest name yet to his currently perfect 11-0 record.
Who wins when Holly Holm takes on Irene Aldana on August 1?