Cody Garbrandt Reportedly Off UFC 213

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One of the year’s most anticipated UFC title fights is reportedly off of July 8’s UFC 213.

Following a week full of rumors, it appears that bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt has been forced out of his match with former champ TJ Dillashaw due to a back injury.

“No Love” went to Germany to receive treatment, and recently tweeted that he had returned before a Twitter battle with “The Viper” broke out. Speculation was that he could not fight in July, something he seems to have confirmed on his personal Facebook profile (via BJPenn.com). The champ said he still had four weeks of recovery to go before he could even resume training:

“4 more weeks of recovery! Then I can slowly start to train and test it out.”

He was then asked if he could fight at UFC 213, and replied he unfortunately would not make it in an effort to save his career:

“No I’m not fighting on the 8th. This has been my dream to get to the top and I want to have longevity!”

Unfortunate news for fight fans to say the least, as many have been anticipating the bout after the heated build-up on the current season of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 25.

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Garbrandt then posted on his Instagram account that he had experienced a setback, but Dillashaw would eventually get the “a** whooping” he deserved:

With one of the summer’s hottest fights now apparently off, the UFC will scramble to find another title fight to promote alongside the women’s 135-pound rematch between Amanda Nunes and Valentina Shevchenko.

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UFC President Dana White recently said Conor McGregor would still fight in the UFC this year, and there’s not a time when the promotion needs him more.