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José Aldo is expected to return to the cage for a bout against Mario Bautista at UFC 307 on Oct. 5, which is anticipated to take place in Salt Lake City, according to MMA Fighting’s Damon Martin.
There are “verbal agreements in place” regarding the fight, Martin reported.
Aldo had been retired from MMA fighting for almost two years when he returned to the cage in May to mark a unanimous decision victory over Jonathan Martinez at UFC 301.
Bautista will enter the matchup having won six straight fights, most recently a unanimous decision win over Ricky Simon at UFC Vegas 84 in January.
Aldo told CBS Sports’ Shakiel Mahjouri in April that his win over Martinez was the last fight on his current contract, but that he wanted to pursue another UFC title.
“I think that’s every fighter’s goal, to fight for that championship,” Aldo said through an interpreter, per Mahjouri. “I needed my time off and had my time off. I recovered and now I’m back. Fighting for the belt and becoming the champion, becoming the best, that’s of course what my goal will be.”
Aldo earned a spot in the UFC Hall of Fame after defending his featherweight title seven times. He came close to a bantamweight title but lost by TKO to Petr Yan in 2020.
Aldo’s win at UFC 301 may have ranked him among the top ten bantamweight fighters, but his path forward will involve taking down one of the division’s rising stars. Bautista strung together three straight submission wins, including a Performance of the Night worthy submission of Benito Lopez, during his current streak.
The UFC 307 card will also feature a bantamweight matchup between Kayla Harrison and Ketlen Vieira, as well as a featherweight bout Aljamain Sterling and Movsar Evloev, according to MMA Fighting’s Jed Meshew.
The official arena for the event has not yet been announced by the UFC, but Meshew reported that the event is expected to take place at the Delta Center in Utah.
