[autotag]Casey O’Neill[/autotag] will make her return in the final UFC pay-per-view of the year in her first fight since she suffered her first professional defeat.
The women’s flyweight has been booked against former KSW champion [autotag]Ariane Lipski[/autotag] at UFC 296 on Dec. 16 in Las Vegas. MMA Junkie confirmed the booking with a person with knowledge of the matchup following an initial report from AG Fight on Thursday.
O’Neill (9-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) hasn’t fought since March, when she lost a unanimous decision to Jennifer Maia at UFC 286 in London. Prior to the defeat, the 25-year-old was unbeaten in her MMA career, which included four wins under the UFC banner. O’Neill was supposed to return at UFC 293 earlier this month, but was forced to withdraw from the bout against Viviane Araujo due to injury.
Lipski (15-8 MMA, 4-5 UFC) is looking to continue to build momentum after breaking free from her worst run in the UFC. She’s currently on a two-fight winning streak with decisions over JJ Aldrich and Melissa Gatto. Lipski was on a 1-3 run before the current rally.
With the addition, the UFC 296 lineup now includes:
- Champ Leon Edwards vs. Colby Covington – for welterweight title
- Champ Alexandre Pantoja vs. Brandon Royval – for flyweight title
- Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. Stephen Thompson
- Tony Ferguson vs. Paddy Pimblett
- Vicente Luque vs. Ian Machado Garry
- Cody Durden vs. Tagir Ulanbekov
- Irene Aldana vs. Karol Rosa
- Ariane Lipski vs. Casey O’Neill
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 296.