A crucial women’s bantamweight fight between Germaine de Randamie and Julianna Pena is expected to go down in October.
Former UFC champ de Randamie (9-4 MMA, 6-2 UFC) will return to the octagon for the first time since failing to join the two-division champ club against Amanda Nunes in her previous fight when she meets fellow contender Pena (9-3 MMA, 5-1 UFC) on Oct. 3.
MMA Junkie confirmed with multiple people with knowledge of the situation that both fighters have agreed to the bout. The people requested anonymity because UFC has yet to make an official announcement.
UFC has not officially announced its Oct. 3 event, but multiple fights have already been reported. It does not currently have a reported location, but could likely land in either Las Vegas or Abu Dhabi.
De Randamie, who was the UFC’s inaugural women’s featherweight champion, came short of history at UFC 245 in December when she suffered a unanimous decision loss to Nunes in a women’s bantamweight tile fight. Prior to that, “The Iron Lady” had put together five consecutive wins, including a 16-second TKO of surging contender Aspen Ladd.
Pena, meanwhile, will be fighting for just the second time since she took a hiatus from MMA to become a mother in January 2017. She made her return to the octagon in July 2019 with a win over Nicco Montano, but hasn’t seen action since. With just one loss in her UFC run, Pena could make a case for a title fight with back-to-back wins over former champs Montano and de Randamie.
The latest lineup for the UFC’s Oct. 3 event includes:
- Loma Lookboonmee vs. Jinh Yu Frey
- Germaine de Randamie vs. Julianna Pena
