A bantamweight clash pitting Cody
Garbrandt against Julio Arce
has been booked for UFC
285.
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Eurosport was first to report the pairing. UFC 285 takes place
at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on March 4 and includes a
women’s flyweight showdown between Amanda
Ribas and Viviane
Araujo as well as a middleight tilt between Bo Nickal and
Jamie
Pickett. A headliner for the card has not been confirmed.
Garbandt has struggled since 2017, losing five of his last six UFC
appearances — a slump that began when he relinquished the 135-pound
belt to T.J.
Dillashaw at UFC 217. Most recently, “No Love” came up short in
his flyweight debut, as he suffered a first-round TKO defeat to
Kai
Kara France at UFC 269 last December. Four of his last five
defeats have been via knockout or technical knockout.
Arce, meanwhile, has alternated wins and losses in his last eight
promotional outings. The Team Tiger Schulmann representative went
1-1 in 2022, outpointing Daniel
Gustavo
Santos at UFC 273 before dropping a three-round verdict to
Montel
Jackson at UFC 281.