Holly Holm vs Irene Aldana UFC Betting Preview & Tips

Holly Holm vs Arene Aldana UFC Fight Night Betting Preview

Holly Holm and Irene Aldana are both ranked in the top six in the Women’s Bantamweight division and are both coming off of wins in their last fight. In the main event of UFC on ESPN 16 this Saturday night on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi, these two women will battle for positioning among the division’s top contenders.

Holly Holm (13-5) is just 3-5 since her incredible head kick knockout win over Ronda Rousey back at UFC 193 in November of 2015. More recently, however, she is 3-2 over her last five bouts, and her two losses came against Cris Cyborg and Amanda Nunes; arguably the two greatest female fighters of all time. Holm defeated Raquel Pennington by decision in her last fight at UFC 246.

Irene Aldana (12-5) opened her UFC career with back-to-back losses to Leslie Smith in 2016 and to Katlyn Chookagain in 2017. But since then, Aldana has been on a tear through the bantamweight division with a 5-1 record over her last six fights. Aldana looked dominant in her last fight at UFC 245, knocking out Ketlen Vieira in the first round.

Holm turns 39 years old this month. She was once one of the most feared strikers in the women’s bantamweight division, but her days as a dominant striker are over. Each of her last two wins have come by decision as her path to victory at this point in her career is to grind out enough strikes with her kickboxing to win at the judge’s table.

That strategy may not work against Aldana. Aldana averages 5.84 significant strikes per minute and should have no issue with being aggressive and taking the fight to Holm, which should take Holm out of her out of her comfort zone. Holm will be the toughest test Aldana has faced to date in her UFC career, but we like her chances of passing the test to put her name into the discussion for a title shot against Amanda Nunes.

UFC Fight Night Holm versus Aldana Betting Tips