Bryan Caraway to return for Dec. 9 bout against Luke Sanders
Brett OkamotoESPN Staff Writer
UFC bantamweight
Bryan Caraway
will return from a 19-month layoff to face
Luke Sanders
at UFC Fight Night on Dec. 9 in Fresno, California.
Officials confirmed the bout to ESPN on Tuesday. The televised event will take place at Save Mart Center.
Caraway (21-7) is the No. 10-ranked bantamweight in the world, according to ESPN. He has won four of his last five, including a split decision over rising contender
Aljamain Sterling
in May 2016.
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Caraway, 33, was supposed to face the undefeated
Jimmie Rivera
in January, but was forced to pull out due to injury. Rivera went on to defeat
Thomas Almeida
this summer and is currently booked against former champion
Dominick Cruz
in December.
Fighting out of Las Vegas, Caraway is 6-2 overall in the UFC.
Sanders (11-1) is coming off the first loss of his career, a kneebar to
Iuri Alcantara
in March. He was supposed to fight
Felipe Arantes
last month, but Arantes withdrew late. Sanders, 31, trains out of the MMA Lab in Glendale, Arizona.
A featherweight bout between
Cub Swanson
(25-7) and
Brian Ortega
(12-0) will headline the UFC Fight Night event.