The previously planned fight between Aspen Ladd and Julianna Pena is back on the table for May. However, one side thinks that might be too soon.

Ladd (9-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) said she would like nothing more than to share the octagon with Pena (9-3 MMA, 5-1 UFC) after the pairing between women’s bantamweight contenders fell through for UFC on ESPN 8 on March 28.

Pena pulled out of the fight due to injury, then the coronavirus pandemic began to hit shortly thereafter. UFC on ESPN 8 was one of three events the promotion postponed, and according to Ladd’s manager, Dave Hirschbein of MMAGOLD, a new offer has been presented for May as the UFC attempts to rearrange its schedule.

Ladd wants to be at her best when she fights Penna, and that’s why, given the uncertainty around the COVID-19 outbreak, she is hopeful for more time.

“Julianna has been around the sport forever,” Ladd told MMA Junkie. “We were already set to fight at the end of March before the pandemic started. I’m No. 3, and she is No. 4 in the world. I have been watching Julianna since I was a teenager when she won ‘The Ultimate Fighter.’ It’s the fight that makes sense for us both, and it’s the fight the world wants to see. Once this pandemic settles a bit, I would say the middle of June or thereafter makes the most sense based on the current situation.”

It’s unknown whether the UFC will heed Ladd’s request to push back the date, or if it will seek a new opponent for Pena.

Ladd, No. 3 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie women’s bantamweight rankings, successfully rebounded from her lone career loss in December when she scored a big-time TKO of Yana Kunitskaya at UFC on ESPN 7.

Should the fight happen, No. 4 Pena will attempt to hand Ladd another setback in what will be her second fight since returning from a two-and-a-half-year hiatus from giving birth to her daughter. “The Venezuelan Vixen” has lost just once in her UFC career, against current women’s flyweight champ Valentina Shevchenko.