Aspen Ladd vs. Julianna Pena
The question of who will get the next shot at Amanda Nunes’ bantamweight title could have been established if current No.3 ranked contender Aspen Ladd fight with the No.4 placed Julianna Pena had gone ahead on the main card of UFC On ESPN 8.
Ladd experienced disappointment last year when her unbeaten MMA record was broken by Germaine de Randamie, who TKO’d her in just 16 seconds in what some suggested may have been a premature stoppage, but she’s since shrugged that off by TKO’ing Yana Kunitskaya back in December to improve her record to 9-1.
Meanwhile, Pena won TUF 18 and has racked up some big wins over the likes of Jessica Eye and Cat Zingano since then, before coming off second best against future flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko.
That was back in 2017 though and Pena would then spend two years on the sidelines and gave birth to her first child, before proving that she still has what it takes upon her return in 2019 by defeating Nicco Montano.
A win for either fighter here could potentially secure a title shot, but with Nunes next fight set to be a featherweight title defense and there being an indefinite hold on this bout actually taking place, who knows what might happen now.
