UFC star ends retirement for return fight against fan favorite at UFC 323

Originally posted on MMA on SI | By Drew Beaupre | Last updated Oct 23, 2025 2:13 PM ET

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Formerly top-ranked UFC lightweight Jalin Turner is set to end his brief retirement and return to fight at UFC 323 in December.

Scheduled as the UFC’s penultimate show of 2025 and final PPV event of the ESPN era, UFC 323 features two title bouts and will see Alexandre Pantoja attempt to defend his flyweight belt for the fifth time in a co-main event matchup with Joshua Van before Petr Yan challenges UFC Bantamweight Champion Merab Dvalishvili in a headlining rematch.

The UFC recently shared a press released detailing the full 14-fight card for UFC 323, which includes an unexpected lightweight matchup between the returning Turner and longtime UFC veteran Edson Barboza.

Jalin Turner Returns Following Brief Retirement

A contract winner on the second season of Dana White’s Contender Series in 2018, Turner alternated wins and losses through his first few UFC bouts before he finished the previously-undefeated Josh Culibao in 2020 and kicked off a five-fight streak of stoppage-wins.

Turner’s 45-second submission of Brad Riddell at UFC 276 capped off his winning run and set him up for a jump up in competition at UFC 285, where he dropped a split decision to Mateusz Gamrot. The 30-year-old also came up short on the scorecards against Dan Hooker at UFC 290 before he closed out the year by stopping King Green in the first round to earn his second “Performance of the Night” bonus.

Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

“The Tarantula” was finished by Renato Moicano in his only outing of 2024 at UFC 300, and after being submitted by Ignacio Bahamondes at UFC 313 he announced what has now turned out to be a short-lived retirement from fighting.

Edson Barboza Has Lost Two Fights In A Row

Turner won’t have an easy welcome back to action at UFC 323, as perennial UFC contender Barboza will enter the night looking to snap a two-fight skid after he returned to the lightweight division in August.

A staple of UFC highlight packages thanks to his 2012 wheel kick knockout of Terry Etim, Barboza was a member of the promotion’s lightweight Top 15 for years before he decided to drop down to featherweight in 2020.

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“Junior” went 4-4 as a featherweight and also picked up post-fight bonuses in half of his outings at 145 lbs. After losing a UFC Fight Night main event to Lerone Murphy last summer, the Brazilian returned to lightweight at UFC 319 and came up short on the scorecards against Drakkar Klose.

Turner’s return against Barboza features as part of a stacked UFC 323 event that will take place on December 6 at T-Mobile Arena, and you can check out the full 14-fight card below.

UFC 323 Fight Card

• Main Event: Merab Dvalishvili vs. Petr Yan 2 – For the UFC Men’s Bantamweight Championship

• Co-Main Event: Alexandre Pantoja vs. Joshua Van – For the UFC Men’s Flyweight Championship

• Henry Cejudo vs. Payton Talbott

• Jan Blachowicz vs. Bogdan Guskov

• Brandon Moreno vs. Tatsuro Taira

• Maycee Barber vs. Karine Silva

• Mansur Abdul-Malik vs. Antonio Trocoli

• Fares Ziam vs. Nazim Sadykhov

• Grant Dawson vs. Manuel Torres

• Terrance McKinney vs. Chris Duncan

• Marvin Vettori vs. Brunno Ferreira

• Edson Barboza vs. Jalin Turner

• Ibo Aslan vs. Iwo Baraniewski

• Muhammad Naimov vs. Mairon Santos