Bryan Caraway vs. Luke Sanders added to UFC Fight Night 123 in December

A bantamweight matchup between an 8-time UFC veteran and a relative newcomer looking to rebound from his first professional loss has been added to UFC Fight Night 123.

ESPN.com first reported that Bryan Caraway (21-7 MMA, 6-2 UFC) and Luke Sanders (11-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) have agreed to meet at the Dec. 9 event, which takes place at Save Mart Center in Fresno, Calif. MMAjunkie subsequently confirmed the booking with UFC officials.

The card airs on FS1 following prelims on UFC Fight Pass.

Caraway, who is currently ranked No. 11 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA bantamweight rankings, looks to return from a lengthy layoff that dates back to a May 2016 win over Aljamain Sterling. Caraway was scheduled to meet fast-rising contender Jimmie Rivera this past January, but injury forced him out of the matchup. “Kid Lightning” stands in 4-1 in his past five contests but fought just once in 2015, once in 2016 and will likely have just one fight in 2017, as well.

Meanwhile, Sanders looks to bounce back from a March loss to Iuri Alcantara. The kneebar defeat marked Sanders’ first professional setback, snapping a run off 11 consecutive wins to open his career.

With the addition to the card, UFC Fight Night 123 now includes:

• Cub Swanson vs. Brian Ortega
• Liz Carmouche vs. Alexis Davis
• Scott Holtzman vs. Darrell Horcher
• Eryk Anders vs. John Phillips
• Trevin Giles vs. Antonio Braga Neto
• Carls John de Tomas vs. Alex Perez
• Chris Gruetzemacher vs. Davi Ramos
• Bryan Caraway vs. Luke Sanders

For more on UFC Fight Night 123, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.