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NEW YORK – Holly Holm wants her fight with Julianna Pena rebooked.
Holm was scheduled to face Peña at UFC on ESPN 24 in May 2021, but was diagnosed with hydronephrosis, a swelling in the kidneys that occurs when urine fails to properly drain from the kidney to the bladder. It forced her to withdraw from the bout.
Peña (11-5 MMA, 7-3 UFC) recently lost the women’s bantamweight title to Amanda Nunes in a rematch, and Holm (14-6 MMA, 7-6 UFC) likes the idea of getting matched up with her next.
“It does interest me,” Holm told reporters at a Thursday news conference in New York. “(The) last year’s been definitely a challenging year for me. It’s been a great year. Life’s still a big blessing. But I wound up having to have my kidney surgery, and so that’s why that fight didn’t go through. I had to pull out, and maybe that’s unfinished business we need to take care of now. So who knows.”
Peña dethroned Nunes in a stunning upset to capture the bantamweight title at UFC 269. But Nunes exacted her revenge in the rematch at UFC 277 and delivered a lopsided beating.
Holm, who was knocked out by Nunes in their title fight at UFC 239, wasn’t surprised to see “The Lioness” reclaim the throne.
“In their first fight, I know she got submitted. But from the minute the fight was going, it was the jab that set it all up, actually,” Holm said. “Going into the rematch, I thought as long as Nunes changes her game plan a little bit – because she kept walking into that jab and she wound up coming in and she fought lefty a lot, and she took away that direct jab, and then she was able to impose her will. So I wasn’t surprised that she was able to come in and dominate the fight. I know she has it in her. She’s a champion for a reason. She’s been there. She’s defended it.”