Former UFC champion Holly Holm has reportedly jumped to the front of the line to be Katie Taylor's next opponent.
According to The Irish Independent that is because negotiations with Amanda Serrano and her camp have stalled over a potential autumn rematch in Croke Park.
And with the Bray hero set to turn 36 in July, manager Brian Peters and Co are understandably keen to book a long-awaited professional debut at home sooner rather than later.
While 40-year-old Holm is primarily known for her MMA career, which famously includes a devastating head kick knockout of UFC poster girl Ronda Rousey in 2015, she enjoyed a remarkably successful career in the ring prior to it and only left to pursue MMA as it offered the more lucrative route.
The New Mexico native won several world titles across three weight divisions and was even twice named Ring Magazine's Female Fighter of the Year.
She just fought on May 22 as she headlined a UFC Fight Night where she controversially lost a split decision to Ketlen Vieira.
Prior to that bout, she acknowledged that she would love to return to boxing and face such an icon of the sport in Taylor. Seemingly witnessing the incredible show Taylor and Serrano put on at Madison Square Garden ignited a desire in her to return to her first love.
She said: “I wanna go back in and show what I can do at a whole different weight class. I never even fought at that weight class when I was in boxing. I think I’m bigger and stronger than a lot of the 135ers."
"It’s hard for me to think past my own fight in MMA and my eyes are still on the UFC gold but I will say this: If I was going to go back to boxing that [Katie Taylor] would be the fight that I want and it does intrigue me, a lot."
“There’s a lot of people who’ve tried to transition back and forth and nobody has really been able to do it successfully – that drives me.
“I wanna show people I was able to come to MMA from boxing, but I can also go back. It does get me excited."
Holm fought 38 times as a professional boxer, winning 33 of those fights, drawing three and losing two.
Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn has name-checked her repeatedly as a viable alternative to Serrano for Katie so the prospect of her being the one across from the 2012 Olympic champ in September or October appears to be gathering momentum.
He told IFL TV recently: “There are three fights for Katie Taylor next. There is Cris Cyborg, Holly Holm or Amanda Serrano. We’ve had an approach from government level in Ireland, they want to do Croke Park, it would be an incredible moment for Katie Taylor.
“Those three names would be fine to that. I would like to do a Serrano rematch, it should a great fight, and we are talking to Jake Paul and Nakisa (Bidarian from Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions company) about that rematch.
“If we can agree on terms we’d love to go straight into the rematch and create an event that will be remembered even beyond Madison Square Garden."
One potential stumbling block on the Holm side could be that she still has one fight remaining on her UFC contract but since Dana White was once happy to allow Conor McGregor to go off and box Floyd Mayweather, one would imagine he'd be open to another mega crossover bout once he and the UFC are involved.
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