Cody Garbrandt needs a new opponent if he’s to remain on the UFC 285 card on March 4th in Las Vegas as Julio Arce has just had to withdraw due to a knee injury.
The 33-year-old Arce is believed to need surgery after suffering damage to his ACL and other ligaments, which is likely to keep him out of action for quite some time.
As for Garbrandt, he didn’t fight at all last year after two scheduled bouts against Rani Yahya both fell through due to his opponent suffering a neck injury in July and then withdrawing for undisclosed reasons in October.
It’s normally the 31-year-old Garbrandt himself that suffers from an injury-jinx, having had a laundry list of ailments over the course of his career that have held him back at times.
In fact, since back-to-back wins in 2016 that saw him briefly hold the bantamweight title, Garbrandt has more often than not only been able to muster one fight in the UFC per year.
Even more troubling though is the fact that he’s lost five of his six fights during that period, including four via either KO or TKO.
With that in mind Garbrandt will surely be eager to reverse his fortunes sooner rather than later in 2023, but at this stage it’s unclear whether the UFC will be able to find him a new opponent for UFC 285, or if his return to action will be pushed back yet again.
