Gallery Irene Aldana def. Lucie Pudilova at UFC 228: Best photos view 9 images

A former women’s bantamweight title challenger will return after a lengthy layoff to fight in front of her home fans this spring.

Brazil’s Bethe Correia (10-3-1 MMA, 4-3-1 UFC) is set to take on Mexico’s Irene Aldana (9-4 MMA, 2-2 UFC) at UFC 237. Correia announced the booking on her Twitter account, confirming a report from Combate.com.

UFC 237 takes place May 11 in Brazil, though the promotion has yet to announce a city and venue, though the event reportedly will take place at Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and UFC Fight Pass.

Correia has not fought since a third-round knockout loss to former women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm in the UFC Fight Night 111 main event in Singapore in June 2017. She was booked to return this past August at UFC 227 against Aldana, but an injury forced her off the card. So when she returns in May, it will be 23 months since her last fight.

Correia started her pro career 9-0, including wins in her first three UFC fights. Two of those victories were against Ronda Rousey teammates and friends Jessamyn Duke and Shayna Baszler, so a fight against Rousey for the title was a natural. But at UFC 190 in Rio de Janeiro in August 2015, Rousey went into enemy territory and put Correia away with a 34-second knockout. That started Correia on her current 1-3-1 slide, with the lone win coming by split decision against Jessica Eye at UFC 203.

Aldana started her UFC career on an 0-2 skid with a decision loss to Leslie Smith, albeit in a “Fight of the Night” performance, and a split call to Katlyn Chookagian. But in 2018, she bounced back with decisions over Talita Bernardo and Lucie Pudilova, the latter also earning a “Fight of the Night” bonus at UFC 228.

With the addition, the UFC 237 lineup now includes:

Rose Namajunas vs. Jessica Andrade – for strawweight title

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Ryan Spann

Jared Cannonier vs. Anderson Silva

Irene Aldana vs. Bethe Correia

For more on UFC 237, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.