What’s next for Holly Holm following knockout victory over Bethe Correia at UFC Singapore?

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) women’s Bantamweight title holder Holly Holm got back on the winning track yesterday (Sat., June 17, 2017) by knocking out former title contender Bethe Correia in the third round of their headlining bout at UFC Fight Night 111 in Kallang, Singapore (recap here).

In fact, it looked similar to the knockout performance that first earned her the division title against Ronda Rousey back at UFC 193 (see it again here).

The was huge for “The Preacher’s Daughter,” as it ended the bleeding of a three-fight losing skid after beginning her mixed martial arts (MMA) career with 10 straight wins. If her striking coach, John Winkeljohn had his way, his star pupil would be vying for the title next.

But, I’d like to see Holm get one more win before she heads back to the big dance. And one challenger I’d like to see Holly go up against is Julianna Pena, the former Ultimate Fighter (TUF) winner who was on the cusp of a title shot before running into a “Bullet” in the form of Valentina Schevchenko.

Prior to her loss against Valentina, Pena was riding high with four straight wins and was considered a legit threat to Rousey before she was bounced from her throne by Holly. Pena has shown she can mix it up everywhere, as she can go toe-to-toe on the feet or make it a drag out war on the ground.

Pena seems to be the only fighter standing in Holly’s way to a title fight, as the other two ranked ahead of Holm — Ronda Rousey and Raquel Pennington — don’t seem like a threat at the moment. Ronda is currently on another MMA hiatus, while “Rocky” should be getting the winner of the upcoming title fight between Amanda Nunes and the aforementioned Schevchenko at UFC 213.

Key word being “should.”

In the meantime, Holly and Pena can get it on to see who gets dibs after that. Sure, Holly already has a win over Pennington, but that seems so long ago, as it came back in 2015 in what marked Holm’s UFC debut.

I’m not too keen on rematch between the two, as Pennington has been on quite a roll as of late while Holly is just started to get her rhythm again.

Anyone have a better idea?