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“Preacher’s Daughter” is headed back to Melbourne, Australia — the place where she broke the mixed martial arts (MMA) universe four years ago by breaking Ronda Rousey’s jaw with a headkick — to fight Raquel Pennington at UFC 243, which takes place inside the 60,000-seat Marvel Stadium on Oct. 5, 2019, according to ESPN.com.
Holm scored perhaps the most shocking knockout in Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) history when she flattened Rousey, who had been slicing through the Bantamweight division en route to six straight title defenses, with a head kick heard ‘round the world. Overnight, Holm literally became a household name — Rousey was UFC’s biggest box office star at the peak of her popularity at the time.
Unfortunately for Holm, though, her title reign wouldn’t last long as she would go onto lose her next three fights. In fact, Holm has only won two of seven appearances inside the Octagon since she destroyed Rousey at UFC 198, three of which were championship matches. She most recently dropped a fight to Featherweight champion, Amanda Nunes, via technical knockout (head kick and punches) at UFC 239.
Pennington, meanwhile, is fresh off a split decision win over Irene Aldana at UFC on ESPN 4 last month. She is currently the No. 6-ranked women’s Bantamweight on UFC’s roster (Holm sits at No. 3).
UFC 243 has the potential to set the promotion’s all-time attendance record. That’s the reason local heroes (and bitter rivals), Middleweight champion Robert Whittaker and interim 185-pound titleholder Israel Adesanya, are charged with headlining the championship show.