Women’s bantamweight contender bout added to UFC 200
Not only will the Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s bantamweight title be on the line at UFC 200, two top contenders in the division will have the chance to take a huge step toward a future title bout in a matchup that was made official on Thursday.
Former title challenger Cat Zingano will take on rising star Julianna Pena at the event on July 9 at T-Mobile Arena.
Zingano has not fought since suffering the first loss of her career in a main event loss to then-champion Ronda Rousey at UFC 184 in February 2015. She has a prior victory over current bantamweight champ Miesha Tate.
After missing 18 months with a serious knee injury, Pena returned in 2015 to record victories over Milana Dudieva and Jessica Eye.
The organization announced earlier this week Tate would put the belt on the line against Amanda Nunes on the card.
Nunes got the title shot over former champion Holly Holm, who lobbied for a rematch after losing the belt she had won from Rousey to Tate by fifth-round submission in March.
UFC 200 will be headlined by a welterweight bout between Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz, a rematch of a bout won by Diaz in March.
Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj
