November 2, 2024

Joseph Benavidez vs. Ray Borg announced for UFC Denver

MMAfighting.com

The first challenger for Henry Cejudo’s newly won flyweight championship could be decided soon.

On Wednesday, the UFC announced that former title challengers Joseph Benavidez and Ray Borgwill fight at UFC Denver on Nov. 10, an event that is being billed as the 25th anniversary of the promotion.

The matchup was first reported by The Denver Post.

Both fighters are looking to stay in championship contention after taking losses in their last outings. Benavidez (25-5) saw a six-fight win streak ended via a split decision loss to Sergio Pettisat UFC 225 in June, his first fight since returning from a knee injury. Borg (11-3) challengedDemetrious Johnson for the flyweight championship in his last fight, losing by fifth-round submission.

This past April, Borg was supposed to fight Brandon Moreno at UFC 223, but he was forced off of the card in the wake of Conor McGregor and associates causing a scene in the loading area of the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Borg was on a bus that McGregor threw a dolly at, resulting in glass shattering and shards ending up in Borg’s eye.

Since that time, McGregor has resolved the legal matters stemming from the incident and he was served with an order of protection in relation to Borg, meaning he cannot be near Borg until July 2020.

Per ESPN, the Benavidez-Borg bout had been discussed for UFC 229 on Oct. 6, which meant that Borg and McGregor would be on the same card, but the UFC decided to move it to UFC Denver for unrelated reasons.

UFC Fight Night 139 is scheduled to take place on Nov. 10 at the Pepsi Center in Denver, featuring a headlining featherweight bout between Frankie Edgar and “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung.

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