Cody Garbrandt out. Alex Perez in.
One of the most highly anticipated fights has now been scrapped as former UFC Bantamweight Champion Cody Garbrandt will no longer face Deiveson Figueiredo for the Flyweight title at UFC 255. On social media, Gabrandt confirmed the news by revealing that he suffered a distal bicep grade 3 tear (Transcript courtesy of MMA Fighting):
“My arm was sore for about two weeks just from getting back into MMA and hard training. Obviously, it was seven weeks out from the fight,” Garbrandt explained. “So then Monday I went to strength and conditioning, training, finished with some bag work. My arm was a little tight. Thought nothing of it.
Came back two or three hours later to work with my striking coach Michael Malott, had a great pad session then. Obviously it was still tight and sore. Later on throughout that night and evening, kind of throbbing pain, more sore than usual. So I put some CBD cream on it and took an edible and went to sleep. Passed out and woke up at 2 in the morning in excruciating pain.
“My bicep was really swollen up, off to the side. So I ended up waking up, texted my coach ‘hey I’m not going to make it to practice this morning, I think my arm is infected.’ I thought it was an infection. So I ended up at hill sprints at 1 with my coach and at 3:30, I was going to go see my physical therapist anyway. I usually go every Tuesday. So I texted my family doctor ‘I think my arm is infected, something is going on.’ So I went there, did an ultrasound on it and saw the tear.”
Garbrandt states that he told UFC officials that he would need the fight to be pushed back for five weeks, and while Alex Perez replaced the 29-year-old, Garbrandt was promised the winner of the upcoming title bout:
“Spoke with the UFC to let them know I probably needed five weeks, I’d be back to training so I could fight at the end of December. They chose to replace me with Alex Perez. I can’t be upset or mad, the show must go on, I understand that.
But they did promise me the title fight upon return of being healthy. Can’t fight destiny. It’s my destiny to be a world champion. It just wasn’t to be in November. So 2021, excited to get back in there.”
Perez is in the midst of a three-fight winning streak, with the flyweight beating Jussier Formiga (via TKO at UFC 250), Mark De La Rosa (via unanimous decision at UFC on ESPN 2) and Jordan Espinosa (via technical submission at UFC Fight Night 166). Since joining the promotion in 2017, Perez has only lost one match-up, which was against Joseph Benavidez via TKO at The Ultimate Fighter 28 Finale in 2018. His professional record currently stands at 24 wins and 5 losses.
Originally, Perez was set to fight Brandon Moreno at the upcoming pay-per-view; however, that bout has been scrapped in place of the flyweight title match-up. There’s no word on whether officials are searching for a replacement for Moreno.