After a long absence from the Octagon due to injury, Joseph Benavidez will finally return to action against Sergio Pettis at UFC 225 on June 9th in Chicago.
The 33-year-old Benavidez hasn’t been seen in the Octagon since December of 2016 when he emerged with a split decision victory over Henry Cejudo.
That had marked his sixth victory in a row, including wins over the likes of Ali Bagautinov, John Moraga and Tim Elliott, and with the only two losses in his 14 fight run in the UFC to date coming against current champion Demetrious Johnson, he still retained the No.1 contender spot in the division while rehabbing from an ACL injury over the course of the past year.
Now he goes up against the 24-year-old Pettis, who is coming off a loss to the aforementioned Cejudo, which snapped a four-fight winning streak that had saw the No.5 ranked flyweight contender notch up victories against the likes of John Moraga and Brandon Moreno.
Benavidez Vs Pettis joins a UFC 225 fight card in the Windy City that’s still in it’s fledgling stages and doesn’t yet have a main event set, though it will also feature a women’s strawweight encounter between Cluadia Gadelha and Carla Esparza.
