Carina Damm vs Munah Holland Planned For Matrix Fights 6Brazilian standout Carina “Beauty But The Beast” Damm returns to action on July 13th when she battles rising star Munah Holland at Matrix Fights 6 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. MMARising.com confirmed plans for the 130-pound catchweight bout with matchmaker Andria Caplan today.

Damm was initially set to face Zoila Gurgel at Bellator 57 in November, but that bout was scrapped when Gurgel suffered a torn ACL in training. Damm has not fought since a July 2011 submission win in Brazil. Holland most recently knocked out Marianna Kheyfets in her Bellator debut in March.

Damm (17-6-0) remains one of Brazil’s top female fighters, but she has battled inconsistency in recent years. She amassed an impressive ten-fight winning streak between 2007 and mid-2010, but suffered three straight second-round defeats against Hitomi Akano, Cat Zingano and Tara LaRosa. Damm got back on the winning track with a pair of quick wins in her home country, where she has lost just one time in her career, and had planned to finish the year with a big win over Gurgel. With Gurgel sidelined due to injury, Damm was left without an opponent and she now makes her return to the cage for the first time in nearly a year. Thirteen of Damm’s wins have come inside the distance.

Holland (4-1-0) won three of her first four mixed martial arts bouts under the Ring of Combat banner, but the former Golden Gloves amateur boxing champion remained relatively unknown to MMA fans until her Bellator debut on March 30th. Facing undefeated prospect Kheyfets, Holland outstruck her opponent and scored a pair of knockdowns in the second round before finishing Kheyfets off with a vicious right hook late in the middle stanza. The win put Holland on the map as a fighter to watch for in the women’s flyweight division. She has struggled to find an opponent since, and has endured opponent changes for the Matrix Fights card, but now faces a solid test in Damm, who takes the fight on one week’s notice.

Matrix Fights 6 takes place next Friday, July 13th, at Sheet Metal Union Workers Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Tim Peterson contributed to this report.

 

  1. Munah wins, due to Carina choking.