The UFC 181 card scheduled for the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada on Dec. 6 has added a women’s fight to the main card as Holly Holm is set to make her UFC debut against Raquel Pennington. For Holm, who is 7-0 in MMA and who had a decorated boxing career prior to crossing over to MMA, it is a highly anticipated first fight with the UFC, where the women’s bantamweight division is starved for competition that could challenge dominant champion Ronda Rousey.
Raquel Pennington is a fighter who is 4-4 as a pro and 1-1 in the UFC. She boasts a lot of amateur fights as well, and her experience as a professional has seen her face a high level of competition that includes Cat Zingano, Roxanne Modafferi and Jessica Andrade.
Holm is not just any boxer, she comes over with a career record of 33-2-3 and she has held world titles in three boxing weight classes (Welter, Light Welter and Light Middleweight) and she holds wins over Mia St John, Chevelle Hallback, Diane Prazak and Mary Magee in the boxing ring, among a slew of others. When she decided to cross over into the MMA world, she did it right and she has gone 7-0 in smaller promotions. She officially signed with the UFC back in July of this year, so even her debut fight appears to have been carefully planned. Holm is almost certain to be favored over Pennington when the lines come out at the books, and it is unlikely the UFC matchmakers slip up and sully her perfect record. Holm, has to win this one in the ring, and she will have to get one or two more victories, and then the big money fight with Rousey will be there. It is what everybody wants, Holm just cant screw up and win her lose a tune up bout.
Do not let this video fool you into thinking that Holm is not tough, on the contrary. This is one of her losses in boxing but it comes against Anne Sophie Mathis, one of the top women boxers in the world today, and Holm still displays a lot of those intangibles that you look for when hurt. Holm went on to avenge this loss and hand Mathis the only loss of her career. This is something to watch.
