Siyar Bahadurzada says he's fighting UFC newcomer Abu Azaitar at UFC Fight Night 115

After a 16-month layoff, UFC welterweight Siyar Bahadurzada says he’s got a date for his return.

According to Bahadurzada (22-6-1 MMA, 2-2 UFC), he’s set to welcome World Series of Fighting veteran Abu Azaitar (12-1-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC)  into the octagon at UFC Fight Night 115, which takes place Sept. 2 at Ahoy Rotterdam in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

The UFC hasn’t made any official announcement of the matchup. (via Twitter)

Bahadurzada hasn’t fought since March of 2016, when he upset Brandon Thatch with a third-round submission at UFC 196. The Afghan fighter was supposed to have returned last July at UFC 201 but had to withdraw from a bout with Jorge Masvidal due to illness.

Bahadurzada is no stranger to lengthy layoffs, having walked into the Thatch bout after a two-year, injury-motivated hiatus. The win evened out a record that included a debut win over Paulo Thiago and consecutive losses to Dong Hyun Kim and John Howard.

Germany’s Azaitar, in turn, enters the bout off a unanimous-decision win over Mike Arrant at last October’s WSOF 33. He hasn’t suffered a professional loss since 2012, boasting a solid eight victories in his last nine bouts, with a draw sandwiched in between.

Azaitar hasn’t commented publicly on the matchup yet, but he had been making his case for a spot in Rotterdam. (via Twitter)

The latest UFC Fight Night 115 card includes:

• Stefan Struve vs. Alexander Volkov
• Marcos Rogerio de Lima vs. Saparbek Safarov
• Desmond Green vs. Rustam Khabilov
• Abdul-Kerim Edilov vs. Bojan Mihajlovic
• Francimar Barroso vs. Aleksandar Rakic
• Islam Makhachev vs. Michel Prazeres
• Bryan Barberena vs. Leon Edwards
• Siyar Bahadurzada vs. Abu Azaitar

For more on UFC Fight Night 115, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.