Gilbert Melendez is returning to the cage this July, and according to a report from Globo in Brazil, his return bout will come against Edson Barboza at UFC on Fox 20 in Chicago.
Melendez has been under suspension since failing a drug test for exogenous testosterone out of his loss to Eddie Alvarez last June. The former Strikeforce Lightweight Champion and two-time UFC Lightweight Title challenger has lost three of his four fights in the Octagon, dropping decisions to Alvarez and Benson Henderson, and getting submitted by Anthony Pettis.
Barboza enters the July 23 event off his most impressive win to date, a decision win over Pettis last week at UFC 197. The 30-year-old Brazilian is 11-4 in 15 UFC appearances, and is 4-2 over the last two years of his career. Barboza fought on last year’s Fox show at Chicago’s United Center, defeating Paul Felder in that event’s “Fight of the Night.”
The July 23 card does not yet have a headliner, but brings the UFC back to the United Center and Fox for the fifth time in five years.
[Photo (c) Joe Camporeale via USA Today Sports]
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