Combat sports notes: Holm-Bueno Silva winner could get title shot

Is the July 15 UFC main event between Albuquerque’s Holly Holm and Brazil’s Mayra Bueno Silva a bantamweight title-elimination fight? Officially, no.

In the minds of Bueno Silva and Lenny Fresquez, Holm’s longtime Albuquerque promoter, yes.

“The UFC hasn’t guaranteed us that,” Fresquez said on Saturday in a phone interview. “But that’s what we want. That’s what our expectations are.”

In an interview with ESPN MMA, Bueno Silva said much the same.

“I think who wins (between) me and Holly is next for the belt,” Bueno Silva said.

But is that what UFC President Dana White is thinking? He hasn’t said.

This, though, we know from our reading. Even before UFC bantamweight (and featherweight) champion Amanda Nunes retired, White was looking for a fresh face to challenge her.

After Holm’s dominant victory over Yana Santos on March 25, White had nothing but nice things to say about the Albuquerque southpaw. But, almost surely, he would have preferred to see Santos win that night because Santos had never faced Nunes.

Holm, the UFC’s No. 3 bantamweight challenger, has lost to Nunes, as have the Nos. 1 and 2 — Julianna Peña and Raquel Pennington, respectively. Peña is the only ranked bantamweight who has beaten Nunes and likely would be the other half of a pairing for the now-vacant title.

Bueno Silva, ranked No. 10, has never faced Nunes and might well leapfrog the rest of the top 10 and get that title shot if she beats Holm.

Fresquez is confident that won’t happen.

Bueno Silva (10-2-1) is a submission specialist, having achieved seven of her 10 victories by that route. Holm (15-6), a world champion boxer, has never won a fight by submission, been submitted once, by Miesha Tate in 2016, and has a clear preference for keeping a fight in standup.

But if the July 15 fight goes to the ground, Fresquez said, so be it.

“Holly has evolved,” he said. “Anywhere the game goes, she can go. She can hang with anybody, anywhere.”

One thing, at least, is certain. Holm must beat Bueno Silva to get another shot at the title she won from Ronda Rousey in November 2015 and lost to Tate four months later.

ANGEL OUT: Those who’d been waiting to see Albuquerque featherweight boxer Aaron Angel Perez return to the ring for the first time since October 2021 will have to wait a bit longer.

As first reported by Boxingnewmexico.com, an injury suffered during training has taken Perez out of his scheduled bout on a July 15 Legacy Promotions card at Expo New Mexico.

Perez (10-1-1, six KOs) was scheduled to face Clovis’ Rafael Reyes.

Flyweight Abraham Perez (7-0, three KOs), Aaron Angel’s younger brother, is scheduled to fight that night’s main event against Mexico’s Jose Angel Perez Diaz (13-3-1, 10 KOs). The International Boxing Association Intercontinental 112-pound title will be at stake.

THE CHARLO SHUFFLE: It was announced on Saturday that Houston’s Jermell Charlo, not his twin brother Jermall, will face Mexico’s Saul “Canelo” Alvarez on Sept. 30 for Alvarez’s collection of super middleweight (168-pound) titles.

What effect this might have on New Mexico native and Cleveland High School graduate Brian Mendoza, if any, remains to be seen.

On March 8, Mendoza defeated Californian Sebastian Fundora for the WBC Interim super welterweight (154-pound) title — presumably putting him line for a shot at the “non-interim” title held by Jermell Charlo.

But when Jermall Charlo opted out of a fight against Alvarez, his twin stepped in, jumping up two weight classes in the process.

Does that mean Jermell Charlo is vacating his super welterweight titles, creating a more immediate title path for Mendoza? There has been no reporting to that effect.

Still, the prospect of a fight between Mendoza (22-2, 16 KOs) and Australian Tim Tszyu (23-0, 17 KOs) whets the imagination — and, perhaps, is a real possibility.