Breaking: Marlon Vera slated for return opposite featherweight legend Jose Aldo at UFC 255

Marlon Vera will reportedly return to the Octagon at UFC 255, where he’ll take on former UFC featherweight champion and MMA legend Jose Aldo.

News of this matchup was first reported by Brazilian publication Combate.

Marlon Vera has long been a fringe contender in the 135-pound bantamweight division, but had struggled to pick up a marquee win in the weight class. That changed at UFC 252, when he collected a first-round TKO victory over red hot bantamweight prospect “Sugar” Sean O’Malley, who had never been beaten before. Though an apparent O’Malley leg injury added some controversy to the win, it was far an away the biggest victory Vera has achieved to date.

Vera will reportedly be rewarded for that huge upset win with a fight against Aldo.

Aldo ruled over the UFC featherweight division for many years, and is widely considered one of the greatest fighters in MMA history. However, after losses to Conor McGregor, Max Holloway and Alexander Volkanovski—interspersed by wins over Frankie Edgar, Jeremy Stephens and Renato Moicano—he elected to drop down to bantamweight. Aldo lost his first fight in the division, giving up a hotly debated decision to Marlon Moraes. Despite that, he was then booked for a fight with Petr Yan for the division’s vacant title, which he lost by fifth-round TKO. He’ll now look for his first bantamweight win opposite Vera.

UFC 255 is expected to be headlined by a men’s flyweight title fight between new champion Deiveson Figueiredo and top contender Alex Perez, who replaces the originally slated Cody Garbrandt. The card will also feature a women’s flyweight title fight between Valentina Shevchenko and Jennifer Maia.

Here’s how the card looks with the addition of this Vera vs. Aldo fight.

• Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Alex Perez
• Valentino Shevchenko vs. Jennifer Maia
• Robbie Lawler vs. Mike Perry
• Marlon Vera vs. Jose Aldo
• Brandon Moreno vs. Brandon Royval
• Ariane Lipski vs. Antonina Shevchenko
• Maurício Rua vs. Paul Craig
• John Allan Arte vs. Roman Dolidze
• Alan Jouban vs. Jared Gooden