Aspen Ladd challenges Julianna Pena to fight this spring

UFC women’s bantamweight contender Aspen Ladd has officially challenged fellow divisional stalwart Julianna Pena to a fight this spring.

Ladd took to her social media on Sunday to make the callout of Pena, in response to a tweet of Pena calling out UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes.

https://twitter.com/theaspenladd/status/1355935636172238849

I know who I want, but she has to actually follow through. Spring is approaching and I will be ready @Mickmaynard2 @danawhite @dc_mma @LynchOnSports @danawhite #3timeisacharm #2021goals #mma #itstime

Ladd has not fought since December 2019, when she defeated Yana Kunitskaya by unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs. Rozenstruik. The No. 3 ranked women’s bantamweight on the UFC roster, Ladd is 4-1 overall in the Octagon. She’s 9-1 overall during his mixed martial arts career, with her lone loss coming via controversial TKO to Germaine de Randamie in July 2019, in a fight that many fans felt that referee Herb Dean stopped too soon. Other than that, she’s been perfect.

Ladd, unfortunately, missed all of 2020 due to injuries, but now that she’s healthy and ready to return to the Octagon, she’s ready to make another run for the UFC women’s bantamweight title. Only 25 years old, Ladd already has racked up quite a bit of experience at a young age as she’s become a perennial top-five bantamweight.

Looking at the UFC women’s bantamweight rankings, Ladd is only ranked below veterans de Randamie and Holly Holm, while Pena is ranked three fighters below her at No. 6. Fans may wonder why Ladd isn’t calling out the two fighters ranked above her in de Randamie and Holm, but you have to remember that Pena is the one of those three who most fans are talking about right now following her comeback submission win over Sara McMann at UFC 257, so the callout makes sense.

Do you want to see Aspen Ladd fight Julianna Pena this spring?