Standing across from former multiple-division boxing world champion Holly Holm at UFC 184 on February 28 will be former The Ultimate Fighter Season 18 competitor Raquel “Rocky” Pennington.
The No. 12-ranked Pennington was originally scheduled to welcome the undefeated mixed martial artist to the big leagues at UFC 181, but Holm pulled out in November due to a neck injury. Now, Rocky has the Jackson’s MMA fighter right in her cross hairs.
“I don’t think she’s fought on an elite level or fought the types of opponents in MMA like we have in the UFC, like myself or any of the other girls. So I want to be the one to derail the hype train,” Pennington told Fox Sports’ Elias Cepeda.
Holm’s UFC arrival wasn’t the smoothest. A tumultuous negotiating period with her manager Lenny Fresquez almost saw UFC President Dana White pull back from the bargaining table altogether.
Nonetheless, the 33-year-old was able to secure a deal with the sports’ largest fight promotion in July.
Despite her inactivity inside the Octagon thus far, Holm’s 7-0 professional record has created a palpable buzz around the women’s bantamweight division. Though the Albuquerque-based fighter has yet to compete in the UFC, all the talk lately has been about a future date between Holm and a certain “Rowdy” one.
Before her signing, speculation of Holm facing the only women’s bantamweight champion in UFC history was everywhere, at least from the titleholder’s standpoint.
“I really hope that the UFC picks Holly up and that I get to fight her before I retire,” champion Ronda Rousey told MMA Junkie in December 2013.
With the current 135-pound champion on the verge of cleaning out the division if she makes a fifth straight title defense against the undefeated Cat Zingano on the same card, a faceoff with Holm may not be too far out of the question.
One impressive victory could be all it takes for a showdown between the two champions, White told the Los Angeles Times in July (h/t MMA Mania). And there’s not much in the way of roadblocks, aside from a Holm loss.
Former Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champ Miesha Tate has lost to Rousey twice in her career, but since her UFC 168 loss to Rowdy Ronda, the 28-year-old has piled up three straight victories over quality names.
Outside of Tate and outspoken Brazilian Bethe Correia, there are few challengers to Rousey’s throne. That said, one Octagon win for Holm is not enough to convince Pennington she deserves a shot at the longtime women’s bantamweight ruler.
“It does motivate me [Holm’s looming title opportunity], extra. I do not think she deserves to pop in and walk right into a title shot in the UFC,” said Pennington.
While Holm and Rousey take to the headlines, Altitude MMA’s Pennington has been rising up the 135-pound rankings. The 26-year-old most recently defeated late replacement Ashlee-Evans Smith via rear-naked choke at the sound of the first-round bell in December.
Since her TUF 18 finale victory over Roxanne Modafferi in November 2013, Pennington has only lost once, to Brazilian Jessica Andrade in a close split-decision contest. Though the judges and most MMA outlets agreed that Andrade was the rightful winner, Pennington was the more accurate striker and wrestler, per FightMetric.
Holm will be a significant upgrade in competition for the Coloradan. As an unparalleled boxer, she tallied 33 wins compared to just two losses. Holm is also unorthodox and throws punches from the southpaw stance.
In those 33 aforementioned victories, nine came by way of knockout. But that was boxing.
The former Legacy FC women’s bantamweight champion has knocked out six of seven MMA opponents.
Holm will now channel her efforts toward cementing a legacy in a new sport on the biggest stage possible. The former world champion boxer will attempt to validate all the praise that made her such a highly sought-after commodity into a win over Pennington.
That’s if she remembers who exactly she’s facing on February 28 inside the Staples Center.
“I heard a couple of interviews she’s done, and I don’t think she know who she was fighting. The guy interviewing her kept repeating questions to her about ‘Raquel,’ but she kept on talking about a ‘Jessica’,” said Pennington.
This Saturday, she has a chance to remind both Holm and White that the 135-pound division isn’t as shallow as one might think. If Pennington can make the co-main event tilt a gritty grappling affair against the relatively untested Holm, then she may well shock the world.
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