Carla Esparza and Tecia Pennington squared off in an exhibition bout during “The Ultimate Fighter 20” nearly a decade ago. Ten years later, the two will fight again, this time in a three-round pro strawweight contest Oct. 5 at UFC 307 at Delta Center in Salt Lake City. Two people with knowledge of the targeted matchup recently informed MMA Junkie of the booking but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement. Verbal agreements are in place with bout agreements expected to be signed in the coming days. Esparza (19-7 MMA, 10-5 UFC) has not competed since a title challenge loss to Zhang Weili by TKO in November 2022 snapped a six-fight winning streak