Former UFC bantamweight champion Holly Holm will return to the Octagon against Yana Kunitskaya on March 25, sources told ESPN on Saturday.
Holm (14-6) has not fought since May because of an undisclosed injury that required surgery earlier this year. The 41-year-old former professional boxing champion told ESPN in September she expected to return in early 2023.
MMAFighting first reported the matchup against Kunitskaya.
The UFC Fight Night event on March 25 will take place at AT&T Center in San Antonio. The UFC has not announced a main event. A light heavyweight bout between Anthony Smith and Jamahal Hill was initially slated to headline, but Hill was bumped into a title fight opportunity in January.
Holm, a native of Albuquerque, New Mexico, is coming off a split decision loss to Ketlen Vieira in May. She later said she felt she did enough to get the nod in that fight. The loss snapped a two-fight winning streak.
Kunitskaya (14-6) is coming off a first-round knockout loss to Irene Aldana in July. Before that defeat, Kunitskaya had picked up an upset decision victory over Vieira. The 33-year-old Russian fighter is 4-2 since a failed title bid against then-UFC champion Cris "Cyborg" Justino in March 2018.
