It’s time to finally decide the next top Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Bantamweight contender.
James Lynch reported before later confirmed by ESPN Deportes today (Thurs., Jan. 26, 2023) that a pivotal 135-pound rematch between Raquel Pennington (15-9) and Irene Aldana (14-6) is targeted to headline UFC San Antonio on March 25, 2023.
The pair first fought in July 2019, which also took place in the Texas city. Pennington managed to snap Aldana’s three-fight winning steak via a competitive three-round split decision. Mexico’s Aldana is 4-1 since the encounter, riding back-to-back technical knockout wins over Yana Kunitskaya and Macy Chiasson.
Pennington just recently knocked off arguable top contender, Ketlen Vieira, via split decision at UFC Vegas 67 earlier this month (Jan. 14, 2023), extending her current streak to five in a row. Both Pennington and Aldana have only lost to the former champion, Holly Holm, since they fought each other.
Aldana was briefly linked as the next challenger to the current titleholder, Amanda Nunes, but denied the reports after they began spreading. There’s no indication as of yet who exactly will be next for Nunes if anyone until the outcome of UFC San Antonio’s featured bout.
The current 11-fight lineup for UFC San Antonio can be seen here.
- 135lbs.: Raquel Pennington vs. Irene Aldana
- 125lbs.: Maycee Barber vs. Andrea Lee
- 185lbs.: Chidi Njokuani vs. Albert Duraev
- 125lbs.: C.J. Vergara vs. Daniel da Silva
- 135lbs.: Holly Holm vs. Yana Kunitskaya
- 125lbs.: Alex Perez vs. Manel Kape
- 170lbs.: Sean Brady vs. Michel Pereira
- 145lbs.: Daniel Pineda vs. Tucker Lutz
- 170lbs.: Trevin Giles vs. Preston Parsons
- 145lbs.: Alex Caceres vs. Nate Landwehr
- 145lbs.: Steven Peterson vs. Lucas Alexander