Benito Lopez booked for UFC return after 40 months away from competition

It’ll be 1212 days in between UFC cage walks for Benito Lopez when he ascends toward the cage for a fight vs. Mario Bautista.

The bantamweight clash has been booked for a yet-to-be-announced Nov. 5 card, scheduled to be a UFC Fight Night event. There is no publicly-known location or venue.

Two people with knowledge of the matchup confirmed the booking to MMA Junkie after Bautista’s management, Iridium Sports Agency, posted about it on Twitter.

Lopez (10-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) bookended a loss to Manny Bermudez between wins over Albert Morales and Vince Morales before he entered an injury-induced hiatus that knocked him out of action from July 2019 until his recent reappearance on the UFC schedule.

Bautista (10-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) is coming off back-to-back victories over Jay Perrin and Brian Kelleher. The Kelleher victory was his most recent performance, a 147-second submission.

No other bouts have been announced for the Nov. 5 lineup at this time.