Amanda Nunes vs Raquel Pennington set for UFC 224
Despite UFC president Dana White hinting at a champion vs champion bout between Cris Cyborg and Amanda Nunes for UFC 224, the UFC’s women’s bantamweight champion will be defending her belt after all.
As announced via the UFC’s official Twitter account, Amanda Nunes is set to defend her 135 lb title against Raquel Pennington on May 12th in Rio de Janeiro.
The bantamweight title is on the line in May! ?@Amanda_Leoa takes on @RockyPMMA in the main event at #UFC224 in Rio! pic.twitter.com/yB8Gu4BEzJ
— UFC (@ufc) March 8, 2018
Nunes (15-4) has gone unbeaten in her last six bouts dating back to 2014 and claimed UFC gold in the main event of UFC 200 with a first-round submission of Miesha Tate. The Brazilian fighter would go on to defend her belt in a first-round demolition of Ronda Rousey at UFC 207 before most recently defeating Valentina Shevchenko via split-decision in September of last year.
Pennington (9-5) meanwhile has been sidelined for over a year due to a broken leg with her last bout coming at UFC 205 in November 2016. ‘Rocky’ successfully extended her undefeated streak to four with a decision win over Miesha Tate, a fight which marked Tate’s retirement from competition.