Cody Garbrandt injured, out of upcoming clash with Mario Bautista at UFC 292
UFC 292 takes another hit, as it was just announced former UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt will not make it to his scheduled bout opposing Mario Bautista, being forced to withdraw from the contest due to a recent injury he suffered during the latter stages of his training camp.
This was to be the second bout to take place on the main card next weekend, and the Ultimate Fighting Championship brass is currently seeking a replacement opponent for the surging Mario Bautista (12-2), who was coming into the bout on a four-fight win, three-fight finish streak.
There was also another bantamweight contest originally scheduled for this event that was scrapped, a bout between no. 7 ranked Rob Font (20-7) and no. 8 ranked Song Yadong (20-7-1). The Chinaman withdrew for an undisclosed reason, and Font instead took a main event slot against no. 4 ranked Cory Sandhagen (17-4) last weekend at UFC Nashville.
Then yet another bantamweight bout was pulled from the card when former two-division UFC champion Henry Cejudo (16-3) was forced from his contest against no. 6 ranked Marlon Vera (20-8-1) due to a shoulder injury. Vera will now face no. 10 ranked Pedro Munhoz (20-7).
Lastly, no. 8 ranked Geoff Neal (15-5) withdrew from his upcoming welterweight clash with no. 13 ranked Ian Garry (12-0) and was just replaced by the winningest fighter in UFC welterweight history, no. 11 ranked Neil Magny (28-10).
If the UFC cannot find a replacement for Bautista to face, they will only host ten fights at UFC 292.
Cody Garbrandt (13-5) opened up his career with a perfect 11-0 record as the new UFC bantamweight champion that just dominated the greatest 135 lb fighter the sport had ever seen. Since then, however, since 2016 that is, Garbrandt has gone 2-5, losing via knockout four times in those seven fights. He has also had five cancelled bouts and countless injuries since losing his title to former two-time UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw back in 2017.
Garbrandt was just 25 years old at the time he defeated Dominick Cruz to become UFC bantamweight champion, and now at 32-years-of age his career takes another backseat. It’s too bad, nothing but well wishes for the former champion to get better and get back into the octagon.
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