Paul Craig has signed a new contract with the UFC and will return to action later this year at a UFC Fight Night event in Paris, France.
The Scottish fighter is set to take on Modestas Bukauskas in a light-heavyweight contest in September, the organization announced Monday.
Craig, 37, is coming off a no-contest in a June bout with Rodolfo Bellato that ended with an odd sequence during which Craig landed an illegal upkick that was deemed accidental but appeared to rock Bellato who was unable to continue. Afterwards, it was speculated that Bellato had embellished the impact of the kick.
Between that no-contest and a three-fight losing streak when Craig was competing down a weight class in the middleweight division, the grappling specialist is winless in his past four fights and in six of his past seven outings.
Craig announced after his matchup with Bellato that it was the final fight on his UFC contract, while also expressing the desire to not fight for another promotion.
Bukauskas is riding a three-fight winning streak and has gotten his hand raised in seven of his past eight overall since 2022. The 31-year-old born in Lithuania and fighting out of England is coming off a split decision win over Ion Cutelaba at UFC 315 in May.
The Paris event takes place Sept. 6 at Accor Arena and is scheduled to be headlined by streaking middleweight contenders Nassourdine Imavov and Caio Borralho.
Other announced bouts for UFC Paris include:
-- Andreas Gustafsson vs. Rinat Fakhretdinov
-- Bolaji Oki vs. Mason Jones
-- Marcin Tybura vs. Ante Delija
-- Kennedy Freeman vs. Yuneisy Duben
-- Shauna Bannon vs. Sam Hughes
