RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil — Bethe “Pitbull” Correia is set to make her return at Saturday night’s UFC 237 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The bantamweight fighter will be entering the Octagon after a long gap. Correia (10-3-1) has been out of action after suffering a head kick KO in her Singapore main event fight against Holly Holm.

The top-15 UFC bantamweight contender Correia had been sidelined since June 2017. But now, UFC has rebooked the former title challenger Bethe “Pitbull” Correia for an exciting bantamweight bout against Irene Aldana. The bantamweight battle is scheduled for May 11.

The fight was originally planned for August 2018 when Correia tried to make her return at UFC 227. However, the Brazilian, who once challenged Ronda Rousey for the UFC championship, was again forced out of action from UFC 227 because the promotion deemed her unfit to compete due to her previous eye surgery.

Correia stated, “The way things happened, it was really frustrating for me. Fights getting canceled are something normal in this sport, it happens, but the medical situation we got into, the misinformation, people thinking I was hiding information from the UFC about my eye situation, that got me very frustrated. I was cutting weight, a thousand times more emotional… But it’s over now. I got more mature after all that. Everything that happened made me stronger and better prepared,” reported MMA Fighting.

Correia started her pro career 9-0, including wins in her first three UFC fights. Although “Pitbull” didn’t expected her sabbatical period to be that long, still it seems that the extra time off was good for her. The Brazilian brawler who trained for 15 days in Thailand says, “I’ve never been so long away from a fight in my life, but I try to look the bright side of everything. I had a war with Marion (Reneau) in Fortaleza and went straight into a short camp for a five-round with Holly (Holm) in Asia. It was really intense. I realized I needed some time for myself after that, a moment to reflect on my career and what I had to improve.”

“Pitbull” vs. “Robles” is going to be exciting bout and the two are set to collide at the UFC 237 pay-per-view event on May 11 in Curitiba, Brazil. For Correia, a one-time bantamweight title challenger in the UFC, so much has happened over the past two years, but the Brazilian takes it as a learning experience.

In this upcoming fight, her opponent Aldana (9-4) will enter the bout with back-to-back decision victories over Talita Bernardo and Lucie Pudilova. Irene is at her best run so far in the UFC and the former Invicta FC title challenger is 2-2 under the UFC banner.

Correia who is seeking her first victory since September 2016 said, “I’m really glad that I’m fighting Irene. If they are booking this fight for the third time, that’s because it has to happen. I’ve watched her last couple of fights, that was supposed to be against me, and she’s a true brawler. She has that typical Mexican spirit. I think it’s going to be a great fight.”

Bethe Correia reportedly stated that her fans were ‘begging’ her to come back and it’s the division that needs her. “The division needs me. Coming back to fight, coming back to the wins,” Correia said. “Things were way cooler when I was more active. I think the division needs Bethe Correia coming back and winning this fight. I will always be a strong name fight for the belt. People are begging for me to come back,” she said.