Former bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt will return to action against Pedro Munhoz at UFC 235 in Las Vegas on March 2nd.
Garbrandt is coming off back-to-back losses to his biggest rival TJ Dillashaw, the first of which saw him lose his title and taste defeat for the first time in his career by KO, while the second came by TKO in the first round.
Before that Garbrandt had enjoyed a flawless rise up the UFC ranks, defeating the likes of Dominick Cruz, Thomas Almeida and Takeya Mizugaki along the way.
Despite his recent defeats, the 27-year-old’s 12-2 overall record is enough to still see him hold down the No.1 contender spot in the bantamweight rankings.
Now he takes on the 32-year-old Munhoz, who has won six of his last seven fights. That includes his current back-to-back victories over Brett Johns and Bryan Caraway in 2018, though early last year he did also pick up a split decision loss to John Dodson.
With the only other losses of his his 17-3 (+1nc) career having also come against top-flight talents in Jimmie Rivera and Raphael Assuncao, Munhoz lays claim to the No.10 spot on the 135lb rankings and could take a big leap up the ladder if he could get the better of Garbrandt.
Garbrandt Vs Munhoz joins an increasingly stacked UFC 235 card that is set to be headlined by a light-heavyweight fight between Jon Jones and Anthony Smith, while Ben Askren’s debut against Robbie Lawler and Zabit Magomedsharipov Vs Jeremy Stephens are among the other big match-ups on the line-up so far.
