Cody Garbrandt officially is shifting his focus from a UFC flyweight title shot to a challenge in his natural division of bantamweight.
Garbrandt, No. 6 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie 135-pound rankings, has signed on to fight No. 10 Rob Font for a five-round main event on May 22 at UFC Fight Night. Two people with knowledge of the situation confirmed the booking to MMA Junkie after an initial report from UFC broadcast partner ESPN.
For Garbrandt (12-3 MMA, 7-3 UFC), it’ll be his first fight since a defeating Raphael Assuncao with a “Knockout of the Year” candidate last June at UFC 250. With that win, which snapped a three-fight losing skid, the former bantamweight champion was granted a flyweight title shot scheduled for UFC 255 last November, but Garbrandt was forced to withdraw after testing positive for COVID-19 in October.
Flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo is now facing Brandon Moreno in a rematch on June 12 after they fought to a draw last November. Garbrandt had previously mentioned a desire to fight Jose Aldo if a 125-pound title shot didn’t come to fruition.
Font (18-4 MMA, 8-3 UFC), meanwhile, will enter against Garbrandt on a three-fight winning streak, which includes unanimous decisions over Sergio Pettis and Ricky Simon punctuated by a first-round TKO of Marlon Moraes in his most recent bout last December.
