Julianna Pena vs. Germaine de Randamie added to fall UFC event

An important women’s bantamweight bout between top contenders Julianna Pena and Germaine de Randamie has been added to an upcoming UFC event this fall.

MMAjunkie.com was the first to report the matchup between Pena and de Randamie. The fight will take place on October 3 at an event that is not yet official. The location and venue of the event are not yet known, but the report says that either the UFC Apex in Las Vegas or Fight Island in Abu Dhabi could play host to the event and therefore the fight.

Pena (9-3) is the No. 4 ranked women’s bantamweight in the UFC. The 30-year-old American first came on the scene back in 2013 when she won The Ultimate Fighter 18. Since then, Pena has racked up an impressive 5-1 record in the UFC. She holds notable wins over Cat Zingano, Jessica Eye, Nicco Montano, Miliana Dudieva, and Jessica Rakoczy, with her lone loss in the UFC coming against UFC women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko. Pena has not fought since July 2019 when she defeated Montano.

De Randamie (9-4) is the No. 1 ranked women’s bantamweight in the UFC. The 36-year-old Netherlands native is the former UFC women’s featherweight champion. Overall, she holds a 6-2 record in the UFC with wins over Holm, Aspen Ladd, Raquel Pennington, Anna Elmose, Larissa Pacheco, and Julie Kedzie, with both of her losses in the UFC coming against pound-for-pound great Amanda Nunes. De Randamie last competed in December 2019 when she lost a decision to Nunes in their rematch at UFC 245.

This is a big fight for both women as they look to keep pace with the rest of the top contenders at 135lbs. For Pena, beating an elite opponent like de Randamie may be enough to get her the next title shot against Nunes, while for de Randamie, she will be looking to avoid back-to-back losses for the first time in her MMA career.

Who do you think wins, Julianna Pena or Germaine de Randamie?