Holly Holm Set To Debut Against Raquel Pennington At UFC 181

Last week (Wed., October 1, 2014) a rumor surfaced that decorated boxer and former Legacy FC women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm would be making her octagon debut against Milana Dudieva at December 6’s UFC 181 from Las Vegas, Nevada.

Tonight, news comes that Holm has a date at the UFC’s year-ending pay-per-view (PPV), but she has a different opponent. Holm will face The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 18 veteran Raquel Pennington, who last seen dropping a decision to Jessica Andrade at UFC 171. Her only other bout was a decision win over Roxanne Modafferi at the TUF 18 Finale in November 2013.

Meanwhile, Holm has made a seamless transition from boxing to MMA, racking up seven straight victories with six knockouts. She was last seen destroying Juliana Werner to win the Legacy FC belt in April. Holm broke her arm in the fight, but she will apparently be ready by December, beginning her perceived run at Ronda Rousey’s title with a tough but manageable opponent in Pennington.

UFC 181 originally featured a blockbuster middleweight title match-up between Chris Weidman and a TRT-free Vitor Belfort, but the bout was postponed until February when Weidman was found to have broken his hand. In its place stepped a Johny Hendricks vs. Robbie Lawler welterweight title rematch that will be preceded by the anticipated Anthony Pettis vs. Gilbert Melendez lightweight title bout in the co-main event.

Here’s a full rundown of the developing UFC 181 card from the Mandalay Bay Events Center:

Johny Hendricks vs. Robbie Lawler

Anthony Pettis vs. Gilbert Melendez

Travis Browne vs. Brendan Schaub

Holly Holm vs. Raquel Pennington

Tony Ferguson vs. Abel Trujillo

Todd Duffee vs. Anthony Hamilton

Corey Anderson vs. Gian Villante

Eddie Gordon vs. Josh Samman