Raquel Pennington still looking to fight Holly Holm in 2015

Raquel Pennington

Women’s bantamweight Raquel Pennington hasn’t forgotten Holly Holm and is angling to rebook their bout that was scratched for UFC 181.

Pennington (5-4 MMA, 2-1 UFC), a “TUF 18? alum, took on Ashlee Evans-Smith (3-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) at the pay-per-view event earlier this month when Holm (7-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) suffered a neck injury and withdrew from the event.

Pennington went on to choke Evans-Smith unconscious with a rarely-seen bulldog choke, though she lost out on a “Performance of the Night” bonus — and blamed lightweight champ Anthony Pettis.

“Backstage, I told him, ‘Thanks a lot a—hole, you stole my ‘Submission of the Night,'” she joked about Pettis’ guillotine submission of Gilbert Melendez in the co-headliner.

It’s a testament to Holm’s name appeal that Pennington is wanting to run back the once-scratched fight. Holm is targeting an early 2015 return.

Pennington said she already lobbied to book the two for UFC Fight Night 60, which takes place in Denver in her home state of Colorado.

“I told the UFC how we’d probably sell out the building from me being from Colorado and her being from New Mexico,” she said. “It’s not that far of a drive. That was in the works, but I went into a 45-day suspension. But we’re talking probably a couple months into the New Year, so we’ll see.”

Pennington was suspended for a deep laceration on her forehead that gushed blood and required extensive medical attention backstage. She received a total of 14 stitches and said she couldn’t see after Evans-Smith landed a knee that opened the cut.

“When I lifted I head, all the blood went into my eyes,” Pennington said. “So I actually fought the rest of the fight blind. I was just feeling what I was doing and reacting.”

Evans-Smith went limp at the 4:59 mark of the first round, bringing Pennington her second UFC win and a full purse after a decision loss to Jessica Andrade in her previous outing.

Now, Pennington is setting her sights on derailing the popular Holm, who was a champion boxer before transitioning into MMA.

“She has a huge hype train behind her, and I don’t think that she’s really fought anybody,” Pennington said. “I’m not taking away from the opponents that she’s fought, but I don’t think she’s fought anybody with the credentials that a lot of us women have in the UFC.

“I do look forward to fighting her; I want to fight her. It was a little bit disappointing when it pushed, but at the end of the day, I ended up getting a fight with a good opponent, and I had fun.”

For complete coverage of UFC 181, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

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