Amanda Nunes Expected to Face Raquel Pennington at UFC 224 in Brazil

UFC 224 finally has a title fight.

Women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes is expected to face Raquel Pennington at the upcoming event on May 12 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Sources close to the fight confirmed that verbal agreements have been in place for the fight for a couple of weeks with contracts expected to be issued at any time.

Sources say Amanda Nunes vs. Raquel Pennington is being discussed currently…haven't heard a date but I'd assume UFC 224 in Brazil would be a likely landing spot. #UFC

— Damon Martin (@DamonMartin) February 7, 2018

Nunes will look to defend her title for the third consecutive time after defeating Valentina Shevchenko and Ronda Rousey in her most recent performances. While Nunes has called Florida home for most of her fight career, she hails from Brazil and last fought there in 2015 when she defeated Shayna Baszler.

Meanwhile, Pennington will face a tall task when she returns to action after missing all of 2017 due to injury and then suffering a broken leg that pushed her back all the way until mid-2018.

Prior to her injuries, Pennington had won four fights in a row including a victory over former champion Miesha Tate in the final bout of her career. Now Pennington will get her first shot at UFC gold while also competing for the first time in 19 months.

Nunes vs. Pennington is the latest addition to the UFC 224 card that also includes Vitor Belfort taking on Lyoto Machida in the final fight of his legendary career as well.