BREAKING: Former UFC women's champion set to headline July 15 card
A former UFC women's champion is reportedly all set to headline the upcoming Fight Night card that'll take place on July 15th, 2023. The veteran fighter will look to work her way back to UFC gold as she tries to stave off a rising contender in a pivotal matchup.
The fighter in question is none other than boxing legend and former UFC women's bantamweight champion Holly Holm. As reported by MMA journalist Ariel Helwani on the latest edition of The MMA Hour, Holm is scheduled to face the up-and-coming Mayra Bueno Silva in a matchup that'll headline the upcoming Fight Night card on July 15th.
-Breaking News-
July 15 Main Event:
Holly Holm vs. Mayra Bueno Silva
As first reported by #TheMMAHour https://t.co/xzJUUcIFqU
A report by MMA Fighting later alluded to the fact that Mayra Bueno Silva aka 'Sheetara' was originally booked to fight former women's bantamweight champion Miesha Tate at UFC Vegas 74 on June 3rd, 2023. However, Tate suffered a hand injury, owing to why the Silva-Tate matchup was canceled.
Furthermore, Holm was subsequently roped in to fight Silva at the Fight Night event, which will go down on July 15th. The Holm vs. Silva five-round bantamweight matchup will headline the Fight Night card.
The card's original headliner was supposed to be a five-round men's welterweight matchup between Vicente Luque and Rafael dos Anjos. As of this time, it's unclear as to whether the Luque-RDA matchup would be relegated to co-headliner status on the Fight Night card or shifted to another card altogether.
Holly Holm on re-signing with the UFC and speculation regarding her potential retirement
Earlier this year, it was revealed that Holly Holm had re-signed with the UFC, inking a new six-fight contract with the organization. Holm returned to the win column in her last octagon outing, as she bested Yana Santos via unanimous decision in March 2023. During the post-event press conference, she hinted at possibly retiring after her new contract expires.
Holly Holm (33-2-3 boxing, 15-6 MMA) has consistently maintained that she's still very much focused on her quest to recapture bantamweight gold. That said, during the aforementioned post-event press conference, 'The Preacher's Daughter' seemingly indicated that she's nearing the end of her MMA career. The 41-year-old stated:
"That's very possible. I don't like to really put a timeline on myself, but I definitely know that I'm not 25 and 30 anymore. I still feel very healthy right now, but six fights is still quite a bit of time. So I definitely know that retirement is sooner than it was 10 years ago, but I'm not ready to do it just yet."
Watch Holm discuss the topic at 6:17 in the video below: