Featherweights Gilbert Melendez, Arnold Allen Booked for UFC 239

A featherweight tilt pitting Gilbert Melendez against Arnold Allen has been added to the UFC 239 lineup.

Promotion officials announced the bout on Wednesday. UFC 239 takes place on July 6 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and is headlined by a light heavyweight championship clash between Jon Jones and Thiago Santos. In the co-main event, Amanda Nunes defends her bantamweight crown against ex-champ Holly Holm.

Melendez and Allen were initially slated to meet at “The Ultimate Fighter 30” finale this past November before “El Nino” withdrew from the bout due to injury. Melendez hasn’t competed since dropping a unanimous verdict to Jeremy Stephens at UFC 215 in September 2017. The 37-year-old former Strikeforce champion has lost four straight Octagon appearances.

Allen, meanwhile, enters the matchup on a seven-bout winning streak – with five of those triumphs coming within the Las Vegas-based promotion. The 25-year-old Englishman is coming off a unanimous decision triumph against Jordan Rinaldi at UFC London on March 16.