Dana White explains why Cody Garbrandt was given flyweight title shot

UFC president Dana White explained why Cody Garbrandt was given the next flyweight title shot against the 125lbs champion Deiveson Figueiredo.

Despite never making the cut down to 125 in his UFC career, Garbrandt skipped ahead of the rest of the contenders in the flyweight division to get the next title shot against Figueiredo. The fight is expected to headline UFC 255 on November 21, with a planned co-main event between Valentina Shevchenko and Jennifer Maia for the women’s flyweight belt.

Speaking to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, White explained why the UFC decided to go with Garbrandt for the flyweight title shot instead of fighters like Brandon Moreno, Alex Perez, and Askar Askarov who are more proven in the division.

“Well he wanted to, he wanted to move down, he wanted to move down in weight and he wanted to take that opportunity and we loved it,” White said of Garbrandt.

“So we did it. It will be a fun fight.”

There is no disputing that Figueiredo vs. Garbrandt is going to be a very exciting fight for the fans. Both men are known for their incredible knockout power and both are in peak form right now, with Figueiredo coming off of a mauling over Joseph Benavidez and Garbrandt coming off of KO of the Year candidate over Raphael Assuncao.

However, Garbrandt has never proven he can actually make 125lbs, which makes this a risky move by the UFC. As well, Garbrandt is just 1-3 in his last four fights. He is a big star for the UFC and an exciting fighter, but perhaps someone else like Moreno had a more impressive resume in the division. Regardless, the UFC decided on Garbrandt to get the next title shot and he will take on Figueiredo this winter in a massive fight for both men.

Do you agree with the reasoning from Dana White why Cody Garbrandt got the title shot?