Things are fast and furious in the UFC right now. Another Fight Night is coming to the APEX on August 1st, and a former champion will be headlining the card.
Another chance to climb the ladder for Holly Holm
Holly Holm (13-5) and Irene Aldana (12-5) will be going head to head in a women’s bantamweight matchup that will headline the UFC‘s 8/1 card. Holm, the former UFC bantamweight champion, bounced back after a loss to Amanda Nunes with a win over Raquel Pennington back at UFC 246. Holm has consistently been one of the best in the world over the last five years, and has appeared in five UFC title fights. For Holm, a win in this matchup could get her closer to a sixth title fight. Holm is just 1-4 in her championship fights, but she remains confident that she could capture UFC gold again one day.
Aldana can prove she’s one of the best in the world
Aldana will be making her ninth appearance in the UFC‘s bantamweight division. Aldana got off to a rough start in her UFC career losing her first two fights, but since then, she’s gone 5-1 with her lone loss being a split decision loss to former title challenger, Raquel Pennington. Aldana won her last fight by first round knockout, and a win over Holm could mean a title shot for Aldana. If you look at the landscape of the bantamweight division, there is no clear challenger for champion, Amanda Nunes. If Aldana can come out and impressively beat the former champion, she has just as good of an argument as anyone for the next shot at Nunes.
Brunson/Shahbazyan to finally fight
In addition to announcing the Holm/Aldana main event, it was revealed that Derek Brunson (20-7) and Edmen Shahbazyan (11-0) would also be fighting on the August 1st card. This is the third time that this anticipated middleweight contest has been booked. Shahbazyan is a very exciting 22-year-old prospect who is coming off of a head kick knockout over Brad Tavares back at UFC 244. Brunson is a big test for Shahbazyan. Brunson has been in there with the best in the world from champion, Israel Adesanya, to former champion, Robert Whittaker, to the great Anderson Silva. A win over Brunson would be massive for Shahbazyan, but a win for Brunson would inch him closer to a title shot after three consecutive wins.