Former Ultimate Fighting Championship champion Cody Garbrandt is looking to bounce back from the first submission loss of his career.
Eurosport NL broke the news on Thursday that Garbrandt (14-6) will return to the Octagon to face Myles Johns (15-2, 1 NC) at a TBA event on the UFC Fight Night card on Oct. 12. Both fighters confirmed the bout at the UFC Apex on their Instagram pages. No main event is currently scheduled for the show.
Garbrandt’s longest two-fight winning streak dating back to 2016 was ended when he was tapped out by former flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 300. In the process, “No Love” suffered his first professional submission loss and is yet to record a submission victory. His two wins in 2023 came over Trevin Jones by scorecards and Brian Kelleher by one-punch knockout. Garbrandt came into the promotion undefeated, winning the belt against Dominick Cruz in 2016, but is 3-6 since that win.
Johns has quietly rattled off four straight wins inside the Octagon, further cementing his place in the bantamweight division with decision wins over Douglas Silva de Andrade and Vince Morales. He also beat Dan Argueta in the process, but tested positive for metabolites of oral turinabol in a post-fight drug test. The marathon MMA fighter’s only career wins to date include Mario Bautista and John Castaneda, but since joining the roster he has scored devastating knockouts of Anderson dos Santos and Kevin Natividad.
Additionally, his management team, Iridium Sports Agency, announced on Thursday that two welterweight bouts will take place at the same event: Themba Gorimbo (13-4) will face Niko Price (16-7, 2 NCs) on Oct. 12, and Tshidi Njokuani (23-10, 1 NC) will face Jared Gooden (23-9).
Since losing his promotional debut to AJ Fletcher in 2023, Gorimbo has bounced back with three straight wins, going full rounds against Takashi Sato and Ramiz Brahimaj (for which he apologized) and defeating Pete Rodriguez in just over 30 seconds. Price hasn’t had as much success as his opponents recently, with just one win in his last three bouts. Price’s last performance was a unanimous decision win over Alex Morono, but prior to that he had suffered punch losses to Philip Lowe and Robbie Lawler.
Njokuani returned to welterweight this year to face Reece McKee, narrowly escaping a split decision. It was another loss for “Chidi Chidi Bang Bang,” who was forced to move on after three straight losses to Gregory Rodriguez, Albert Dulaev and Michal Oleksiejczuk. Gooden returned to the UFC after a multi-year hiatus, but his return was unsuccessful, losing via scorecards to Carlston Harris, before tapping out against Wellington Turman in December.
