After Lopsided Loss to Sean O’Malley, Kris Moutinho Returns to Face Aaron Phillips on Oct. 23

Kris Moutinho will get a second opportunity in the UFC after giving a valiant short-notice effort in his Octagon debut.

Moutinho will meet Aaron Phillips in a bantamweight contest at UFC Fight Night on Oct. 23. MMAjunkie.com was first to report the booking. The card is headlined by a middleweight tilt pitting Paulo Costa against Marvin Vettori.

Moutinho stepped up to face Sean O’Malley at UFC 264, losing via third-round TKO in what will likely end up as a “Beatdown of the Year” candidate. Still, Moutinho absorbed most of what O’Malley had to offer right up until the stoppage near the end of the fight. The CES MMA veteran is 9-5 over the course of a professional tenure that began in 2016.

Phillips, meanwhile, had a five-fight winning streak snapped in his last outing, when he was submitted by Jack Shore in the second round at UFC on ESPN 13. The Louisiana native is still looking for his first Octagon triumph after going 0-2 in UFC competition during a previous stint in 2014.