Report – Irene Aldana returns, meets Yana Kunitskaya at UFC 264 on July 10th.

A high-stakes bantamweight clash between the #4 ranked, Irene Aldana, and the #5 rated, Yana Kunitskaya has been booked to feature at UFC 264 on July 10th. — from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Making her Octagon return for the first time since a UFC Fight Island 4 headliner against former division queen, Holly Holm, Aldana looks to return to the winner’s enclosure following a relatively one-sided unanimous decision loss to the Jackson-Wink MMA staple in Abu Dhabi, UAE in October.

The victor of two straight, former Invicta FC bantamweight champion and one-time UFC featherweight title chaser, Kunitskaya’s most recent win came against common-foe, Ketlen Vieira at UFC Vegas 19 in February. News of the bantamweight clash was first reported by reporter, Carlos Contreras Legaspi. 

Seeing her two-fight rise halted at the hands and legs of Holm last time out, Sinaloa-born puncher, Aldana had embarked on an impressive run prior to her loss to the Albuquerque veteran. 

Featuring at UFC 245 in December of 2019, Aldana snapped the ten-fight undefeated streak of the above-mentioned, Vieira via a massive first round knockout win. The victory followed a unanimous decision success over Vieira’s Brazilian counterpart, Vanessa Melo. 

A former Invicta FC bantamweight title challenger, Aldana, a product of Lobo Gym alongside flyweight contender, Alexa Grasso, has managed other notable career triumphs over the likes of Peggy Morgan, Colleen Schneider, Jessamyn Duke, Faith Van Duin, Lucie Pudilova, and Bethe Correia.

31-year-old Murmansk native, Kunitskaya won her bantamweight title under the Shannon Knapp-led Invicta FC banner with a unanimous decision triumph over Raquel Pa’aluhi. 

Arriving in the UFC against then-champion, Cris Cyborg on short notice, Kunitskaya suffered a one-sided first round knockout loss. Her only other Octagon defeat came in the form of a UFC Fight Night D.C. knockout loss to the rallying, Aspen Ladd in December of 2019. 

Prior to her win over Manaus native, Vieira, the top-five contender bested Julija Stoliarenko, veteran, Marion Reneau, and Lina Lansberg.

UFC 264 takes place on July 10th. from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada — and is headlined by a lightweight rubber match between former interim division titleholder, Dustin Poirier, and former undisputed lightweight and featherweight gold holder, Conor McGregor. 

Ross Markey

Senior writer for FightBook MMA. An aspiring mixed martial arts reporter based in Ireland. Producer of news articles, interviews, opinion features, and exclusive features such as, ‘The Fallout’, ‘The Breakdown, and, ‘This Week In MMA’.