The bout between Raquel Pennington and Julianna Pena has been reportedly set for UFC 307 on October 5. The PPV fight card is expected to take place at Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Newly-crowned UFC women’s bantamweight champion Pennington (16-8) makes her first championship defense. Former champion Pena (11-5) makes her Octagon return and looks to regain the 135-pound title.
According to Aaron Bronsteter of Sportsnet, he was told by Pennington she was “likely to return in October” in a bout “hopefully” against Pena. In the following post on X, he stated the latter said the fight had been signed on her end.
Raquel Pennington claimed the vacant title in January, when she scored a unanimous decision against Mayra Bueno Silva and secured her sixth win in a row. The 35-year-old became champion on her second attempt. The Colorado Springs native challenged Amanda Nunes for the same belt in May 2018, but was stopped in the fifth round.
Julianna Pena hasn’t fought since July 2022, when he lost her belt in the championship rematch against Nunes. The 34-year-old native of Spokane, Washington dethroned the former two-weight champion of Brazil by submission in the second round in December 2021.
The promotion is yet to formally confirm the Pennington vs Pena matchup. The UFC 307 date, location and venue announcement is also yet to be made.