Irene Aldana to face Holly Holm in possible title eliminator
A UFC match that was supposed to happen back in August was pushed back to the main event slot on October 3rd. The pushing back of the Irene Aldana against Holly Holm fight happened when Irene tested positive for Covid-19.
Irene Aldana's fight against Holly Holm could have title implications
The card though still has no confirmed location. But it appears to be leading in the direction of being the second card in the UFC's return to Abu Dhabi. The bantamweight fight has also now gotten some significance attached to it. Dana White has said should Irene Aldana win this battle, she'll be next for "The Lioness" Amanda Nunes.
He also was very selective with his words not to say the same for Holly. The 32-year-old Mexican is on a two-fight win streak after dropping a very close split decision to Raquel Pennington in July of 2019.
The card that's now co-main evented by the Glover Teixeira versus Thiago Santos (which might be another title eliminator) has another women's bantamweight fight on it. "The Venezuelan Vixen" Juliana Pena returns after being away for 15 months to face Germaine de Randamie.
"The Iron Lady" is coming off of her second loss to Nunes and Holly has gone 0-4 in title fights since dropping the bantamweight strap to Miesha Tate. That might be the main reason Dana White didn't mention the 38-year-old Albuquerque native, along with the fact that she's been alternating wins and losses in her last six fights going 3-3.
Wins by Irene Aldana and Pena give an almost stagnant division some new blood - at least until number 3 ranked Aspen Ladd is ready to go and gets a push, along with the 7th ranked Ketlen Viera.
What Irene desperately needs to do in her fight with Holly is get inside the pocket and apply her boxing, all while avoiding the kicking game of the Jackson Wink product, and her boxing as well. Irene Aldana will have a huge advantage if she manages to bring the fight to the mat.
If she can do that she will for the 3rd time in her career have a 3 fight win streak and a title shot in the cards to boot.