Former UFC champion Holly Holm will return to the scene of one of the most stunning knockouts in combat sports history later this year.
Holm (12-5) has agreed to meet Raquel Pennington (10-7) at UFC 243 on Oct. 5 in Melbourne, Australia, sources told ESPN. Contracts have not yet been signed, but both sides have verbally agreed to the 135-pound bantamweight contest.
The event will take place at Marvel Stadium, the venue in which Holm knocked out Ronda Rousey with a stunning head kick in November 2015. Holm's victory at UFC 193 -- in front of an announced attendance of 56,214 -- shook up female mixed martial arts in that it marked Rousey's first professional loss. Rousey suffered one more defeat in 2016 before retiring from the sport.
Holm, 37, has been up-and-down since she claimed the title. She surrendered the belt to Miesha Tate in her first attempted defense in 2016. She has accumulated an overall record of 2-5 since dethroning Rousey, including championship losses to Tate, Germaine de Randamie, Cris "Cyborg'" Justino and Amanda Nunes.
Fighting out of Albuquerque, New Mexico, Holm's two wins during that stretch were against Bethe Correia and Megan Anderson.
This next contest will be a rematch of a bout that took place in February 2015. Holm made her UFC debut against Pennington on the night Rousey defended her title in dominant fashion against Cat Zingano. Holm narrowly defeated Pennington via split decision in a bout some thought Pennington should have won.
Pennington, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, is coming off a split decision victory over Irene Aldana last month. She challenged Nunes for the bantamweight title in May 2018 and came up short via TKO. She is 5-2 since facing Holm four years ago.
A middleweight title fight between undisputed champion Robert Whittaker (20-4) and interim champion Israel Adesanya (17-0) will headline UFC 243.
