Former two-time UFC title contender Gilbert Melendez will make his long-waited return to action when he fights Arnold Allen at UFC 239 on July 6 in Las Vegas.
The UFC announced the new fight on Wednesday.
Melendez (22-7) hasn’t fought since 2017 when he earned ‘Fight of the Night’ honors in a battle with Jeremy Stephens in his featherweight debut in the UFC.
He was originally scheduled to return last November in a fight against Allen but Melendez suffered an injury that knocked him out of the contest.
Now that he’s healthy again, Melendez will look to return in July while trying to bounce back from the roughest stretch of his career after dropping his past four fights in a row.
As for Allen, the British prospect comes into the fight with a perfect 5-0 record inside the Octagon after first making his debut back in 2015.
Allen most recently dispatched Jordan Rinaldi by unanimous decision in March and he’ll look to build on his current run while facing a true veteran of the sport in Melendez when they clash in July.
UFC 239 will be headlined by a pair of title fights as Jon Jones defends his light heavyweight title against Thiago Santos and Amanda Nunes puts her bantamweight title up for grabs against former champion Holly Holm.
