A potential female bantamweight title eliminator has been added to the Denver card, in January, as Valentina Shevchenko meets Julianna Pena in the UFC on FOX 23 main event.
A pair of female bantamweight contenders will meet in a UFC on FOX main event in January, as Dana White himself announced, on Twitter, a clash between Julianna Pena and Valentina Shevchenko.
Looking to put on a winning streak after defeating former champion, Holly Holm, Shevchenko's (13-2) sole UFC loss came at the hands of current champion, Amanda Nunes. Before that, in her UFC debut, she defeated former Strikeforce champion, Sarah Kaufmann.
Pena (8-2), on the other hand, already rides a four-fight winning streak with wins over the likes of Jessica Rakoczy, Milana Dudieva, Jessica Eye, and Cat Zingano, which makes her still undefeated inside the Octagon. Her last loss dates to February 2013, in a flyweight bout against DeAnna Bennett.
The current UFC rankings have Shevchenko at #2 and Pena at #3. For Pena, this will be her first ever UFC main event, whereas Shevchenko’s win over Holm headlined UFC on FOX 20 back in July.
Valentina Shevchenko and Julianna Pena will meet at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado on January 28 at UFC on FOX 23. So far, few other bouts have been added to the card, such as a middleweight fight between Brad Tavares and former Bellator champion, Hector Lombard, as well as another middleweight matchup featuring Sam Alvey and Nate Marquardt.