A crucial women’s bantamweight bout between [autotag]Aspen Ladd[/autotag] and [autotag]Julianna Pena[/autotag] is close to being finalized for March’s UFC on ESPN 8 lineup.
MMA Junkie today confirmed with multiple persons close to the booking that contracts have been issued to Ladd (9-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) and Pena (9-3 MMA, 5-1 UFC) following an initial report of the matchup from ESPN.com. The persons requested anonymity because UFC hasn’t made the fight official.
UFC on ESPN 8 takes place March 28 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The card airs on ESPN following early prelims on ESPN+/UFC Fight Pass.
Ladd, No. 3 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie MMA women’s bantamweight rankings, successfully rebounded from her lone career loss in December when she scored a big-time TKO of Yana Kunitskaya at UFC on ESPN 7.
No. 4 ranked Pena will attempt to hand Ladd another setback in what will be her second fight since returning from a 2.5-year hiatus due to giving birth to her daughter. “The Venezuelan Vixen” has lost just once in her UFC career, against current women’s flyweight queen Valentina Shevchenko.
With the addition, the UFC on ESPN 8 lineup now includes:
- Francis Ngannou vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
- Raphael Assuncao vs. Cody Garbrandt
- Yorgan De Castro vs. Greg Hardy
- Sam Alvey vs. Khalil Rountree
- Carlos Felipe vs. Jeff Hughes
- Davey Grant vs. Louis Smolka
- Mizuki Inoue vs. Tecia Torres
- Randy Costa vs. Martin Day
- Punahele Soriano vs. Eric Spicely
- Aspen Ladd vs. Julianna Pena
[vertical-gallery id=468972]
[vertical-gallery id=422304]