After suffering an injury, former women’s bantamweight champ Holly Holm is off the UFC 243 card.
Holly Holm is out of UFC 243. And as a result, so is Raquel Pennington. That’s the outcome of an injury to Holm, according to an initial report, later confirmed, by ESPN.
Holm (12-5) and Pennington (10-7) were set to be a big part of the PPV event taking part in Melbourne, Australia next month. The fight was a rematch of their 2015 meeting, which was Holm’s debut in the UFC. She defeated Pennington via decision that night. Months later, she would shock the world by knocking out Ronda Rousey via head kick at UFC 193, at the very same stadium that plays host to UFC 243.
The UFC was no doubt banking on her star power, having captured such an iconic victory in the very same venue. Now, the event is left looking extremely top heavy, with Robert Whittaker vs. Israel Adesanya being the only true PPV-worthy draw. A replacement opponent is not being sought for Pennington.
Meaning the event is a Whittaker injury away from becoming an unmitigated disaster. Knock on wood.
Holm last fought at UFC 239 in July, losing via TKO to Amanda Nunes. A TKO set up by, ironically, a head kick. Pennington, meanwhile, got back in the win column by defeating Irene Aldana at UFC on ESPN 4 in San Antonio.
UFC 243 takes place October 6 (locally, October 5 elsewhere) at the Marvel Stadium in Melbourne, Australia.The full card as it currently stands is below.
UFC 243: Whittaker vs. Adesanya
Main Card
Robert Whittaker (c) vs. Israel Adesanya (ic)
Dan Hooker vs. Al Iaquinta
Sergey Spivak vs. Tai Tuivasa
Luke Jumeau vs. Dhiego Lima
Preliminary Card
Rostem Akman vs. Jake Matthews
Yorgan De Castro vs. Justin Tafa
Maki Pitolo vs. Callan Potter
Megan Anderson vs. Zarah Fairn Dos Santos
Early Preliminary Card
Jamie Mullarkey vs. Brad Riddell
Nadia Kassem vs. Ji Yeon Kim
Bruno Silva vs. Khalid Taha
