Raquel Pennington and Irene Aldana are set to headline UFC Vegas 73 in a rematch that could determine the next challenger for the women’s bantamweight champion.
Two top-ranked women’s bantamweights are set to headline UFC Vegas 73, with a rematch between Raquel Pennington and Irene Aldana. The five-round main event will take place on May 20 at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, with the promotion announcing the matchup on Tuesday. Pennington previously captured a split decision win over Aldana in their first meeting, which took place on the undercard of UFC on ESPN 4 in July 2019.
The rematch between the 34-year-old Pennington and 35-year-old Aldana will likely decide the next challenger for the winner of UFC 289‘s championship trilogy fight on June 10. The trilogy fight will be between UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes and former champion Julianna Peña.
Pennington, also known as “Rocky”, is the No. 3 ranked female bantamweight in the world, boasting five consecutive wins since 2020, including a split decision over Ketlen Vieira this past January that pushed her to the brink of title contention. On the other hand, Aldana is ranked No. 6 in the world and has won four of her past five bouts, with an impressive three knockouts over Vieira, Yana Santos, and Macy Chiasson.