UFC 224 just landed a title fight.
Women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes is expected to return to action on May 12 where she will face Raquel Pennington at the upcoming pay-per-view card from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Sources close to the contest confirmed that verbal agreements are in place for the title fight showdown with contracts expected to be issued soon. UFC officials have not made any announcements regarding the fight yet.
Sources say Amanda Nunes vs. Raquel Pennington is being discussed currently…haven't heard a date but I'd assume UFC 224 in Brazil would be a likely landing spot. #UFC
— Damon Martin (@DamonMartin) February 7, 2018
For Nunes this will be an opportunity to defend her title for the third time after already picking up a split decision win over Valentina Shevchenko last year as well as a dominant 48-second TKO against former champion Ronda Rousey back in 2016.
Nunes has won her past six fights in a row include her last trip to Brazil back in 2015 when she defeated current WWE superstar Shayna Baszler in the final fight of her UFC career.
Nunes had been attached to a potential super fight against women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg but the matchup was never made official. Cyborg is now headlining the upcoming UFC 222 card against Yana Kunitskaya but said she still hopes to face Nunes later this year if both are victorious in their upcoming bouts.
As for Pennington, she will be getting her first shot at UFC gold while riding a four fight win streak into UFC 224. Of course, Pennington will be fighting an up hill battle after being forced to the sidelines since her last win in 2016 as she defeated former champion Miesha Tate in the final fight of her career. Injuries kept Pennington out of action for all of 2017 but now she will look to return to action while facing the best women’s bantamweight in the sport.
Nunes vs. Pennington is the latest addition to the upcoming UFC 224 pay-per-view card that will also feature Vitor Belfort in the final fight of his career as he faces Lyoto Machida in a middleweight showdown.
What are your thoughts on Amanda Nunes vs. Raquel Pennington at UFC 224? Will we hear ‘and still’ or will we hear ‘and new’?
