Holly Holm vs. Raquel Pennington: A Full Head-to-Toe Breakdown

UFC 184's co-main event takes place in the women's bantamweight division with the debut of a highly touted former boxing champion. Holly Holm steps into the Octagon for the first time and will try to make her mark against Raquel "Rocky" Pennington.

Pennington is currently ranked No. 12 in the official UFC divisional rankings, and without one UFC fight to her credit Holm checks in right behind at No. 13. It is an important fight in the division that could propel the winner into the top 10.

Holm's boxing career was highly successful, but MMA is a whole new game. She has a perfect professional record of 7-0. Pennington will be a step up in competition for her and show the world where she currently stands.

Will she justify the hype, or will Pennington derail all the talk of Holm being a potential contender?

This is your UFC 184 co-main event head-to-toe breakdown.

Striking

Pennington has good power in her strikes, and she loves to brawl. That does not mean she is all that technical. Holm is far and away the better striker.

She is a former boxing world champion, and she has developed other areas of her striking for MMA. Holm knocked out Allanna Jones by head kick and followed that up with a TKO using kicks and knees against Nikki Knudsen.

Holm's knowledge on the feet will allow her to avoid most of Pennington's offense standing. She can manage distance effectively and pick her shots to do the most damage.

Pennington will have to continue to show her toughness and be able to eat strikes in order to win this fight.

Edge: Holm

Grappling

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Truthfully, Holm's all around grappling abilities may be equal to Pennington's. She has been training at Jackson's MMA for quite a long time with a group of qualified fighters. She is not making a quick transition from boxing to MMA. She's been working at this for a long time.

The issue is that we haven't gotten to see it. I cannot give her the edge without seeing it in the gym or in the cage. Only her teammates know how good she has become in the grappling department.

Pennington is an OK grappler. She isn't particularly great in any one area. But that will be enough to get the edge pre-fight.

If Pennington hopes to win this fight, she needs to be the better grappler. It is her best path to victory over the unproven commodity in Holm.

Edge: Pennington

Submissions

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This is similar to the grappling category in that we don't really know how good Holm is. We do, however, know that Pennington can finish.

Ashlee Evans-Smith is a quality grappler, and Pennington upset her in their fight with a bulldog choke. She got the choke and showed how powerful she is. If she can get Holm in a similar position, it will be the end of the fight.

Pennington has far more submissions on her amateur record than her professional one, but that may be a positive. Holm may not fear Pennington's ground game enough and that will allow Pennington to finish. We will find out on Saturday when we see what their game plans are.

Holm should not sleep on Pennington's submission acumen. She is a dangerous fighter.

Edge: Pennington

X-Factors

Holm's X-Factor: Defensive Grappling

Pennington has to wrestle in this fight, and everyone knows it. Holm will most likely have to showcase just how good her defensive grappling is. This will go a long way in showing just how much of a contender she is in the division.

The top end of the 135-pound division is filled with grapplers. Ronda Rousey, Cat Zingano, Miesha Tate, Sara McMann and Alexis Davis are all good on the mat. If Holm is easily taken down against Pennington, you can erase her from the list of potential threats to the title, as she will get steamrolled against the upper echelon.

Showing off her defensive grappling is important for Holm if she hopes to quickly leap up the rankings.

Pennington's X-Factor: Toughness

When someone says you are tough in combat sports, that usually means you get hit a lot. Pennington is tough. And against Holm, that is a blessing and a curse.

She has been in wild exchanges and eaten clean punches before, but she hasn't been hit by someone like Holm. She will not want to take too many strikes, or she will be stopped.

However, because it is her style of fighting, she will have to eat some punches to get inside. How well she handles that will go a long way in finding out if she has a chance at the upset.

Prediction

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I am not on the Holm hype train—yet.

She has not fought top-of-the-line competition, and the fighters she has faced have not been quickly ousted. She has yet to be in true danger, but the cream of the crop still take care of inferior opposition in short order. Remember Rousey's quick ascent?

I do favor Holm in this fight, and within the first five minutes. That is due to how Pennington fights. She is aggressive and loves to brawl. That is a bad combination for this matchup. Holm's counterstriking will light Pennington up.

Holm will look great in this fight, but I don't think we will learn too much about her. It is a perfect stylistic matchup for her debut. That is great booking from the UFC if they feel like Holm can be a big fight for Rousey. It's a great start. Just do not completely buy in just yet. She still has a long way to go to prove she is a serious threat to anyone in the top five of the division.

Prediction: Holm defeats Pennington by TKO in the first round.