Former UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt will return to the division that made him famous this March.
After a one-off at flyweight that saw him knocked out by Kai Kara-France, Garbrandt (12-5) will take on Julio Arce (18-6) at UFC 285 on March 4, 2023. The event takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, and is the first of two numbered UFC events in the month of March, with UFC 286 taking place in London, England just a few short weeks later.
Both fighters confirmed the booking on social media following an initial report by Eurosport.
Garbrandt was supposed to return to the bantamweight division for a fight with Rani Yahya in July, which was later rebooked for October when Yahya suffered a neck injury. Both fighters wound up injured ahead of the October date, leading the promotion to go in other directions with the pair.
At 1-5 in his last six fights, Garbrandt is looking to put the pieces back together after a shocking decline. While many will put an asterisk next to his losses against T.J. Dillashaw, who was later caught using EPO, a banned performance enhancer, Garbrandt was also finished by Pedro Munhoz and Kara-France, while losing a decision to Rob Font.
His lone win since 2016 was a stunning knockout of Raphael Assuncao at UFC 250 in June of 2020.
Julio Arce has been trading wins and losses since 2018, with his most recent performance seeing him drop a unanimous decision against Montel Jackson. The 33-year old previously competed at featherweight, and prior to his UFC career, won both the bantamweight and featherweight titles in regional organization Ring of Combat.
UFC 285 is set for the T-Mobile Arena on March 4, 2023. While no main event has been announced as of yet, the following match-ups reported for the card thus far:
- Jessica Penne vs. Tabatha Ricci
- Da’Mon Blackshear vs. Farid Basharat
- Amanda Ribas vs. Viviane Araújo
- Cody Garbrandt vs. Julio Arce
