Amanda Nunes vs Raquel Pennington title fight headlines UFC 224 on May 12 in Rio

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has officially booked a women’s Bantamweight title fight between current division champion Amanda Nunes defending her strap against Raquel Pennington at the upcoming UFC 224 pay-per0view (PPV) event in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

“Lioness” hasn’t competed since September of 2017 after she outscored Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 215. Prior to that, Nunes had an even better showing by knocking out former division queen Ronda Rousey in under two minutes.

As for “Rocky,” she fought her way up the 135-pound ladder by winning four in a row, and hasn’t tasted defeat since losing a close decision to another former champion, Holly Holm, way back in 2015.

UFC president Dana White hinted at the possibility of booking Cris Cyborg to face off against Nunes, instead, but apparently things didn’t pan out, as Cris recently revealed she wanted to take a break after fighting three times in only seven months.

Nevertheless, Cyborg will be an interested observer come May 12, as she still hopes to secure a showdown against Amanda down the road. UFC 224 will also feature a Middleweight bout between Lyoto Machida and Vitor Belfort in what will be “The Phenom’s” final MMA fight.

Early predictions?