Former UFC title challenger Gilbert Melendez’s return is set, and it’s against rising British prospect Arnold Allen at UFC 239.
Gilbert Melendez is one of the most well-known and longest tenured vets in the UFC. Melendez has been fighting since 2002, and along the way has faced a who’s who of the MMA world. Defeating the likes of Jorge Masvidal, Josh Thomson, Diego Sanchez, and Shinya Aoki. However, despite those incredible names on his resume, he only has one win in the Octagon. That win coming over the aforementioned Sanchez in 2013.
Since then, Melendez has only had four fights in the promotion, all being losses. His last loss being his featherweight return against Jeremy Stephens. After the defeat, Melendez took some time off but was set to return last year in November against Arnold Allen. However, Melendez would pull out of the contest and the fight was canceled.
That fight against Arnold Allen is now set for UFC 239. The promotion announced the fight Wednesday afternoon, making it another fight to join the stacked July card. Arnold Allen is one of Britain’s fastest rising stars, having won in all five of his Octagon appearances to date. His last fight being a win over Jordan Rinaldi in March of this year.
UFC 239 is set for July 6 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The stacked card has a doubleheader of championship bouts. The card is headlined by Jon Jones defending his light heavyweight title against the surging Thiago Santos, and the co-main features a bantamweight title bout as double-champ Amanda Nunes puts her 135-pound title on the line against former champion Holly Holm.
