Raquel Pennington vs Aspen Ladd
Ranked bantamweights coming off very different results collide her as Raquel Pennington steps in on short notice to take on Aspen Ladd.
There was a point when Pennington had to feel snake-bitten, as she dealt with major injuries and a scary ATV accident following the biggest win of her career at UFC 205, then struggled thought a 1-3 stretch upon her return to action. Since then, however, the former Ultimate Fighter contestant has posted a trio of victories, capped by a second-round submission win over Macy Chiasson last December.
After suffering a serious knee injury midway through 2020, Ladd was poised to return against Chiasson last July, only to have the bout postponed until October when Chiasson was injured, and then canceled entirely when Ladd weighed in over the bantamweight limit. The Northern California native hustled into a featherweight matchup with Norma Dumont soon after, but landed on the wrong side of the results, sending her into Saturday’s contest with plenty to prove.
This is a low-risk, high-reward situation for Pennington, who replaces Irene Aldana, as she gets the opportunity to face a Top 5 fighter and potentially extend her winning streak to four, while Ladd remains tasked with taking on an experienced, capable veteran as she looks to get things back on track in 2022.
Ian Garry vs Darian Weeks
Ian Garry looks to follow up his memorable debut with a similar effort in his sophomore outing, while Darian Weeks looks to build off a quality showing in defeat on short notice in his first UFC appearance with a full training camp.
Garry entered 2021 as one of the top prospects in the sport and quickly showed why with tandem wins under the Cage Warriors banner, winning welterweight gold before signing with the UFC. The unbeaten Irishman moved to South Florida to train at Sanford MMA and made his promotional debut at Madison Square Garden, collecting a stoppage win over Jordan Williams in the final second of the opening round at UFC 268 to push his record to 8-0.
After having to withdraw from a Contender Series assignment due to COVID protocols in September, Weeks got the call to replace Matt Brown opposite Bryan Barberena in December, giving “Bam Bam” a run for his money on short notice. Buoyed by that effort and back after logging a full training camp, the former amateur standout looks to send shockwaves through the division by handing Garry his first loss this weekend.
Will Garry continue to prove he’s one of the most promising young talents on the UFC roster or can Weeks slow his climb up the rankings?
