Former UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt is out of his planned UFC 255 flyweight championship fight with division champ Deiveson Figueiredo. Alex Perez will step in for Garbrandt at the Nov. 21 event, as first reported by Combate and confirmed by ESPN. Garbrandt revealed on Twitter that he suffered a torn bicep earlier this week.
Garbrandt (12-3) snapped a three-fight losing skid -- all coming by knockout -- at UFC 250 with a thunderous knockout of Raphael Assuncao. With the victory, Garbrandt was pitched a move down in weight for a shot at the flyweight title, a controversial decision given Garbrandt's 1-3 record since 2017 and never competing at 125 pounds. The reason for Garbrandt being pulled from the event has not yet been disclosed.
Figueiredo (19-1) captured the then-vacant flyweight title in July with a dominant performance that saw the Brazilian submit Joseph Benavidez in less than one round. The bout with Benavidez was a rematch of a February clash that saw Figueiredo win, but not win the title after missing weight ahead of the event.
Perez (24-5), who gets the call after Garbrandt's withdrawal, enters the event riding a three-fight winning streak, including stoppage wins in his two most recent outings. Perez is 6-1 in the UFC, with his lone loss coming in a first-round TKO loss to Benavidez in November 2018.
Perez was originally scheduled to face Brandon Moreno on the card. There is no word at this time of a replacement opponent for Moreno.
In the night's co-main event, women's flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko is set to defend her championship against Jennifer Maia.
