UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes makes the third defense of her title against Raquel Pennington on Saturday 12th May, at the Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The fight card will air live on BT Sport.
UFC Women’s Bantamweight Title Bout: Amanda Nunes (c) vs. Raquel Pennington
Amanda “The Lioness” Nunes will be looking to follow up on her victory over rival Valentina Shevchenko via split decision at UFC 215 last September. Nunes (15-4) was linked to a potential super fight with UFC featherweight champion Cris Cyborg before the fight with Pennington was announced. The Brazilian striker hasn’t tasted defeat in the Octagon since 2014.
Raquel “Rocky” Pennington is on a four-fight winning streak in the UFC’s women’s bantamweight division. Pennington (9-5) defeated former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate in her last bout at UFC 205. Rocky was coached by Tate during her stint on The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rousey vs. Team Tate, where she reached the semi-finals.
Middleweight Bout: Ronaldo Souza vs. Kelvin Gastelum
Former Strikeforce middleweight champion Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza scored an impressive first-round knockout against Derek Brunson in January. Souza (25-5-1 NC) has claimed five fight-night bonus awards since joining the promotion in 2013.
Kelvin Gastelum is also coming off a brutal first-round knockout over former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping last November. Gastelum picked up Performance of the Night and $50,000 in bonus money for his win against the Brit.
UFC 224 Main Card
Women’s Bantamweight: Amanda Nunes (c) vs. Raquel Pennington
Middleweight: Ronaldo Souza vs. Kelvin Gastelum
Women’s Strawweight: Mackenzie Dern vs. Amanda Cooper
Bantamweight: John Lineker vs. Brian Kelleher
Middleweight: Vitor Belfort vs. Lyoto Machida
UFC 224 Preliminary Card
Middleweight: Cezar Ferreira vs. Karl Roberson
Heavyweight: Oleksiy Oliynyk vs. Júnior Albini
Lightweight: Davi Ramos vs. Nick Hein
Welterweight: Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos vs. Sean Strickland
UFC 224 Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)
Welterweight: Warlley Alves vs. Sultan Aliev
Middleweight: Thales Leites vs. Jack Hermansson
Welterweight: Alberto Mina vs. Ramazan Emeev
