Former Champion Cody Garbrandt Set To Return At UFC 296, Opponent Revealed

Interestingly, the booking marks the first to have been put together by Joe Reeves, the winner of the UFC's recent Matchmaker Sweepstakes.

At his post-DWCS press conference last week, Dana White revealed that the MMA enthusiast had been brought on by the promotion after he put together a bout for Garbrandt's return during an interaction with "No Love" at the Performance Institute.

Garbrandt Targets First Win Streak In 7 Years At UFC 296

In his second appearance of the year this December, Garbandt will be looking to rack up consecutive wins for the first time since 2016. 

Garbrandt (13-5) won the bantamweight belt as an undefeated fighter just under seven years ago. But since a memorable performance opposite divisional legend Dominick Cruz, "No Love" has gone 2-5 across seven outings. That run included a failed drop to flyweight against Kai Kara-France in 2021 following a setback against Rob Font.

After over a year away from the Octagon, Garbandt made his return to 135 pounds earlier this year by comfortably outpointing the now-released Trevin Jones across three rounds. Having had a planned scrap with Mario Bautista fall through at UFC 292 this past August, the former champ will look to fit another triumph in before the end of 2023.

In his way will be Kelleher (24-14), a 38-fight veteran who has competed as a professional since 2011. While wins over Domingo Pilarte and Kevin Croom saw "Boom" riding a win streak in early 2022, he's since dropped back-to-back bouts opposite Umar Nurmagomedov and Bautista.

With this addition, the fights currently expected to take place at UFC 296 on December 16 are as follows:

• Leon Edwards (C) vs. Colby Covington (welterweight championship main event)
• Alexandre Pantoja (C) vs. Brandon Royval (flyweight championship co-main event)
• Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. Stephen Thompson (welterweight)
• Vicente Luque vs. Ian Machado Garry (welterweight)
• Tony Ferguson vs. Paddy Pimblett (lightweight)
• Cody Garbrandt vs. Brian Kelleher (bantamweight)
• Irene Aldana vs. Karol Rosa (women's bantamweight)
• Alonzo Menifield vs. Dustin Jacoby (light heavyweight)
• Casey O'Neill vs. Ariane Lipski (women's flyweight)
• Tagir Ulanbekov vs. Cody Durden (flyweight)
• Randy Brown vs. Muslim Salikhov (welterweight)