A pair of strawweights will face each other early next year as the UFC has booked Jessica Penne against Tabatha Ricci.
Two people with knowledge of the situation informed MMA Junkie that Penne (14-6 MMA, 3-4 UFC) and Ricci (7-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) will meet March 4 at an event expected to be UFC 285 from a location to be determined. The people requested anonymity since the promotion has yet to make an announcement.
Penne, 39, is a former UFC strawweight title contender coming off a unanimous decision loss to Emily Ducote in her only fight of 2022. Prior to that, Penne was on a two-fight winning streak – against Karolina Kowalkiewicz and Loopy Godinez – as she returned from a nearly four-year layoff.
Ricci, 27, is just nine fights into her professional career with three UFC appearances. She lost her promotional debut by second-round TKO to Manon Fiorot but has since rebounded with back-to-back unanimous decision wins over Maria Oliveira and most recently Polyana Viana this past May in her only fight of the year.
