Photo by Steve Marcus/Getty Images
According to ESPN, a women’s Featherweight bout between former Bantamweight champion, Holly Holm, and top contender, Irene Aldana, will headline an upcoming UFC Fight Night event on Aug. 1 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
After starting her MMA career at 10-0, including knocking out Ronda Rousey to win the 135-pound title, Holm has had an up and down run inside the Octagon, losing three straight shortly after handing “Rowdy” her first defeat. Since that skid, “The Preacher’s Daughter” has gone 3-2 and is looking for her first back-to-back wins since 2015 after defeating Raquel Pennington a second time at UFC 246 earlier this year.
Aldana, meanwhile, has been on a tear, winning five of her last six, moving her UFC mark to 5-3. In her last outing, the Mexican-born fighter knocked out Ketlen Veira in the opening round at UFC 245, handing Veira the first loss of her MMA career.
A win for Aldana would almost certainly secure her a 145-pound title fight against Amanda Nunes, though there is no telling if it will do the same for Holm, as she was knocked out by Nunes last July in a 135-pound title fight.
The booking comes just two days after Amanda Nunes defended her 145-pound title against Felicia Spencer at UFC 250 (see it), and then subsequently announced that she’d likely wouldn’t return to action this year.