UFC 296 News: Former Champion Booked For Big Return In Las Vegas

Another huge name has been added to the final UFC event of the year.

Author:
Drew Beaupré
Publish date:
Oct 18, 2023 11:39 AM EDT

An already stacked UFC 296 card set to take place on December 16 in Las Vegas has added another intriguing matchup featuring a former bantamweight champion.

The UFC’s year-ending Pay-Per-View event quickly went from being a question mark on the promotion’s calendar to one of the year’s most highly-anticipated cards when UFC CEO Dana White unveiled a huge slate of fights last month.

The event is topped by Leon Edwards defending his welterweight title against Colby Covington. Alexandre Pantoja will also make the first defense of his flyweight belt opposite Brandon Royval in the co-main event slot, and now Marcel Dorff has reported that former champion Cody Garbrandt will square off with veteran bantamweight Brian Kelleher in Las Vegas.

Fans probably wouldn't argue with seeing the exciting bantamweight tilt featured as part of the UFC 296 main card, but it seems more likely that this fight will be a standout offering on the prelims considering the PPV portion of the event also includes a pair of matchups with top welterweight contenders as well as a lightweight scrap between Tony Ferguson and Paddy Pimblett.

The matchup with Kelleher will be the second time that Garbrandt has competed this year after he earned his first win since 2020 by taking a unanimous decision over Trevin Jones at UFC 285. The 32-year-old was scheduled to meet Mario Bautista at UFC 292 in August but pulled out with an injury and was replaced by Da’Mon Blackshear.

Cody Garbrandt UFC — Garbrandt has struggled for consistency since losing the UFC bantamweight belt.
(Stephen R. Sylvanie/USA TODAY Sports)

“No Love” has failed to win back-to-back fights since he upset Dominick Cruz to claim the bantamweight title at UFC 207. That victory extended Garbrandt’s unbeaten record to 11-0 before he suffered knockout losses in his next three outings.

A meeting with the UFC’s former bantamweight champion is a huge opportunity for Kelleher, especially considering “Boom” is coming off back-to-back submission losses and briefly thought he might have to retire due to a serious neck injury that forced him out of an April booking against Journey Newson.

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