Ex-UFC Champ Cody Garbrandt Returns to Bantamweight, Meets Rani Yahya on July 9

After a quick stint at flyweight, Cody Garbrandt is returning to the division where he captured championship gold.

Garbrandt and Rani Yahya have agreed to square off in a bantamweight bout at the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s July 9 event. MMAFighting.com was first to report the pairing, and Garbrandt confirmed the fight booking on his Instagram Stories on Thursday. The card doesn’t yet have an announced venue, but the main event will see Rafael dos Anjos and Rafael Fiziev finally handle their business at 155 pounds.



Garbrandt dropped to 125 pounds for a matchup with Kai Kara France at UFC 269, where he fell via technical knockout 3:21 into the opening round. Dating back to November 2017, when he relinquished the bantamweight crown to T.J. Dillashaw at UFC 217, “No Love” has lost five of his last six promotional appearances. The 30-year-old Team Alpha Male representative began his pro career with 11 consecutive triumphs.

Yahya is coming off a 2-0 campaign in 2021 in which he submitted Ray Rodriguez in the second round of their UFC Fight Night 187 encounter before outpointing Kyung Ho Kang at UFC Fight Night 198. The 37-year-old grappling ace is 11-4-1 with one no contest during his tenure with the Las Vegas-based promotion.