Aspen Ladd vs. Julianna Pena in the works for UFC on ESPN 8 in Columbus

A crucial women’s bantamweight bout between Aspen Ladd and Julianna Pena 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