“The Gun” will be back in the Octagon.
Jessamyn Duke returns against Elizabeth Phillips at UFC on FOX 16 on July 25 in Chicago, the UFC announced Thursday. Duke is one of UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey’s close friends and a part of the Four Horsewomen group with Rousey, Shayna Baszler and Marina Shafir.
Duke (3-2, 1 NC) has not fought since a TKO loss to Leslie Smith last July. The Los Angeles resident and Kentucky native has struggled since coming to the UFC from Invicta FC by way of The Ultimate Fighter 18. She’s just 1-2 in the organization with a unanimous decision win over Peggy Morgan and a TKO loss to Bethe Correia. On TUF, Duke, 28, won the prelim bout to get into the house, but lost to Raquel Pennington in the quarterfinals in what was voted Fight of the Season.
Phillips (4-3) has fought Duke before, losing to her as an amateur by submission in 2012. The Spokane, Wash., native is still looking for her first UFC victory. She has lost to Valerie Letourneau and Milana Dudieva, the latter by controversial split decision last August. Phillips, 28, trains at Sikjitsu with Julianna Pena, who was a TUF 18 competitor on Miesha Tate’s team opposite Duke, who was on Rousey’s team.
UFC on FOX 16 is headlined by a bantamweight title fight between champion T.J. Dillashaw and former champ Renan Barao. In the co-main event, Tate will take on Jessica Eye in what very well could be a women’s bantamweight title eliminator. The event will take place at United Center and the main card will air on big FOX.