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The rumors were being circulated before that the former UFC women's bantamweight champion Holly Holm was interested in a crossover boxing match with an Irish undisputed lightweight champion Katie Taylor in front of her home crowd. But she seems to make an early return to combat sports after being fully fit.
She appears to be looking out for the available options and now she has expressed her desire for Julianna Pena's match to be rescheduled.
When Holm was diagnosed with hydronephrosis, a swelling of the kidneys that happens when urine does not correctly flow from the kidney to the bladder, she was unable to compete against Pea at UFC on ESPN 24 in May 2021. She had to leave the fight as a result of it.
Holm (14-6 MMA, 7-6 UFC) is interested in facing Pena, who recently lost the women's bantamweight title to Amanda Nunes in a rematch.
“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.”
At UFC 269, Pea shocked everyone by unseating Nunes to win the bantamweight championship. However, Nunes gave a devastating defeat in the rematch at UFC 277 to take her vengeance. Holm, who lost the championship to Nunes by submission at UFC 239, wasn't shocked to see "The Lioness" restore her position.
“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.”