It was a difficult road back for Cody Garbrandt and Brian Kelleher, but they’ve finally secured their next assignments: each other.
At UFC 296, Gabrandt (13-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC) and Kelleher (24-14 MMA, 8-7 UFC) will return from injuries to face off in a bantamweight bout. The event takes place Dec. 16 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Two people with knowledge of the situation confirmed the booking to MMA Junkie but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement. Marcel Dorff was first to report the news Wednesday on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Gabrandt, 32, was supposed to compete at UFC 292 in August vs. Mario Bautista but withdrew due to injury. He most recently competed at UFC 285 in March when he defeated Trevin Jones by unanimous decision. The win snapped a two-fight skid and moved him to 2-5 in his most recent seven appearances.
Kelleher, 37, defied the odds in his comeback, returning from neck issues that were initially thought as potentially career-ending. However, surgery in September has improved the issue, and he is set to fight once again. Kelleher will look to snap a two-fight skid, with his most recent appearance a June 2022 submission loss to Mario Bautista.
With the addition, the UFC 296 lineup includes:
- Champion Leon Edwards vs. Colby Covington – for welterweight title
- Champion Alexandre Pantoja vs. Brandon Royval – for flyweight title
- Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. Stephen Thompson
- Tony Ferguson vs. Paddy Pimblett
- Ian Machado Garry vs. Vicente Luque
- Irene Aldana vs. Karol Rosa
- Cody Gabrandt vs. Brian Kelleher
- Ariane Lipski vs. Casey O’Neill
- Cody Durden vs. Tagir Ulanbekov
- Randy Brown vs. Muslim Salikhov
- Dustin Jacoby vs. Alonzo Menifield
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 296.
