The upcoming UFC 213 card has undergone some changes as UFC Bantamweight Champion Cody Garbrandt is no longer defending the gold against former champion TJ Dillashaw.
ESPN’s Brett Okamoto first reported this, citing UFC President Dana White as saying the bout has been canceled due to Garbrandt’s back issues. The two men are currently coaches on the UFC Ultimate Fighter 25, with Team Dillashaw dominating the competition as of this writing.
A UFC Women’s Bantamweight Title Fight between champion Amanda Nunes and challenger Valentina Shevchenko is now headlining the card.
The co-main event of UFC 213 will now be a bout for the vacant UFC Interim Middleweight Title as Yoel Romero takes on Robert Whittaker. Whomever wins the interim gold is expected to face UFC Middleweight Champion Michael Bisping once his knee injury heals up.
As for Dillashaw, the plan for the former UFC Bantamweight Champion is for him to headline UFC 215 and challenge UFC Flyweight Champion Demetrious Johnson for the gold, which was also reported by Brett Okamoto of ESPN. This is a history making bout for two potential reasons, because either Johnson is going to break the consecutive title defense record or Dillashaw will become only a handful of fighters to hold two titles in two different weight classes in the UFC.
UFC 213 takes place on Saturday, July 8 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada with Amanda Nunes and Valentina Shevchenko headlining. UFC 215 takes place this August with a date to be announced with Demetrious Johnson and TJ Dillashaw potentially headlining. Fightful is providing liev coverage for both events, with a post-show podcast following for both events.
