Gabriel Benitez is ready to fight.
The UFC featherweight is eligible to compete now that he’s no longer testing positive for COVID-19. His bout against Justin Jaynes, originally planned for Nov. 14, has been rescheduled for Dec. 5 at UFC on ESPN 19.
A person with knowledge of the situation confirmed the news to MMA Junkie after an initial announcement by Jaynes on Instagram.
Benitez (21-8 MMA, 5-4 UFC) last fought in May. He suffered a unanimous decision loss to Omar Morales at lightweight, a weight class above his usual division. The American Kickboxing Academy product is on a two-fight skid and 2-2 in his last four.
Meanwhile, Jaynes (16-5 MMA, 1-1 UFC) fought in August at UFC on ESPN+ 32, where he lost to Gavin Tucker by submission. Prior to that, Jaynes was on a five-fight wining streak, which included a successful UFC debut against veteran Frank Camacho.
With the addition, the UFC on ESPN 19 lineup includes:
- Jack Hermansson vs. Kevin Holland
- Raoni Barcelos vs. Merab Dvalishvili
- Bethe Correia vs. Wu Yanan
- Jake Collier vs. Gian Villante
- Maryna Moroz vs. Taila Santos
- Cody Durden vs. Jimmy Flick
- John Allan vs. Roman Dolidze
- Damon Jackson vs. Ilia Topuria
- Jamahal Hill vs. Ovince Saint Preux
- Movsar Evloev vs. Nate Landwehr
- Jose Quinonez vs. Louis Smolka
- Gabriel Benitez vs. Justin Jaynes
