Ahah thank you brother, fuckin tore my bicep
on Monday. Title shot in 2021.— Cody Garbrandt (@Cody_Nolove)
October 2, 2020
Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on
your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the
ESPN app. A November
Ultimate Fighting Championship title fight has undergone a
significant change. On Friday morning,
Combate first reported that Cody
Garbrandt (12-3) has been forced to pull out of his UFC
255 flyweight championship bout against Deiveson
Figueiredo (19-1). A torn bicep the reason for Garbrandt’s
withdrawal, although “No Love” confirmed
his withdrawal and asked for a December date, the promotion elected
to replace him. Facing Figueiredo will be Alex Perez
(24-5), who was already booked on the card against Brandon
Moreno.
Garbrandt snapped a three-fight knockout loss skid by laying waste
to Raphael
Assuncao in June with one punch. The former bantamweight champ
began his career at a perfect 11-0, winning the belt against
Dominick
Cruz in only his second decision victory. Two championship
losses to T.J.
Dillashaw sent Garbrandt tumbling down the ladder, and a
subsequent setback to Pedro
Munhoz pushed him further down. The win over Assuncao, like
most of his his other bouts, came at bantamweight. The fight
against Figueiredo was to have been his flyweight debut.
Figueiredo has been a man possessed the last year, finishing
Tim
Elliott and Joseph
Benavidez twice since October 2019. The first meeting with
Benavidez in February, “Daico” showed it was no fluke by putting
Benavidez to sleep with a rear-naked choke in July. With that
finish, the flyweight king boosted his stoppage rate to a
spectacular 84 percent, and tied Benavidez for the second-most
finishes (six) for all bouts set at flyweight in UFC history.
Perez will be getting a crack at the belt on the heels of a
three-fight win streak, where he most recently became the first
flyweight to earn a leg kick stoppage by battering Jussier
Formiga’s legs at UFC 250. In his last 12 outings dating back
to 2016, Perez has lost just once, to Benavidez at The Ultimate
Fighter 28 Finale in 2018. Perez will be the first fighter from
Dana White’s Contender Series to get a UFC
title shot.
UFC 255 takes place on Nov. 21 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, where
it will presumably still be headlined by Figueiredo vs. Perez for
flyweight gold. The co-headliner also a flyweight championship
affair, Valentina
Shevchenko defends her throne against Jennifer
Maia. The main card will also see a rematch between Mauricio Rua
and Paul
Craig at light heavyweight, while welterweights Robbie
Lawler and Mike Perry
will toe the line that night as well.
