Report: Benavidez vs. Borg, Kunitskaya vs. Lansberg Set For UFC 229 in Las Vegas

Since the Ultimate Fighting Championship announced arguably the year’s biggest fight between current lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and former champion Conor McGregor at UFC 229 on Oct. 6 in Las Vegas, the rest of card has begun to take shape quickly.

According to a number of reports, Joseph Benavidez is set to take on Ray Borg at flyweight while former Invicta FC bantamweight champion Yana Kunitskaya will meet Lina Lansberg.

MMA Nytt first reported the flyweight fight between Benavidez and Borg and Kimura.se reported the matchup between Kunitskaya and Lansberg. Although at the time of publishing, these bouts have not been officially confirmed by the UFC.

Benavidez was riding a six-fight winning streak before losing a split decision to Sergio Pettis in June at UFC 225 in Chicago. It was the first fight for Benavidez after 18 months off due to surgery, rehab and recovery.

Borg’s last fight inside the Octagon was a submission loss to former flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson at UFC 216 in October of last year. Borg was scheduled to fight at UFC 223 in April against Brandon Moreno but was caught in the crossfire when McGregor and a group of men attacked the bus Borg was on. McGregor threw a loading dolly into the bus window which shattered the glass. A shard ended up in Borg’s eye and as a result the “Tazmexican Devil” was removed from the card.

Former Invicta FC champion Kunitskaya made her UFC debut in March against the women’s pound-for-pound best fighter in Cris “Cyborg.” As with other fighters before her, “Cyborg” proved too powerful and Kunitskaya was stopped via a first-round TKO at UFC 222.

Lansberg also fought and lost to “Cyborg” in her own UFC debut in a 140-pound catch weight bout. She fared better than Kunitskaya by making it to the second round where she eventually lost by TKO. The 36 year-old last fought in May, winning a decision over Gina Mazany in Liverpool, England.

The UFC 229 line-up is:
• UFC Lightweight Championship: Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor
• Jussier da Silva vs. Sergio Pettis
• Joseph Benavidez vs. Ray Borg
• Yana Kunitskaya vs. Lina Lansberg