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Cody Garbrandt off UFC 213; Romero vs. Whittaker interim title fight added

Yoel Romero will face Robert Whittaker for the interim UFC middlewight title at UFC 213. (Getty)
Yoel Romero will face Robert Whittaker for the interim UFC middlewight title at UFC 213. (Getty)

There has been a bit of a shakeup to the UFC’s big July show in Las Vegas that will likely affect future cards as well.

Speaking to ESPN.com, Dana White announced that bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt will no longer face T.J. Dillashaw at UFC 213 due to Garbrandt suffering a back injury. With that title fight off the July 8 pay-per-view card, another title fight was punched in as a replacement, albeit for an interim title.

Yoel Romero and Robert Whittaker will square off in the co-main event for the interim middleweight title. This effectively pushes the women’s bantamweight title fight between Amanda Nunes and Valentina Shevchenko into the main event.

White said that an interim title fight was created after champion Michael Bisping was sidelined with a knee injury. He was originally expected to face Georges St-Pierre in the summer but things became complicated when the former welterweight champion suggested that he wouldn’t be available to compete until fall. Dana White called the Bisping-GSP fight off after Bisping stated that he would also be unable to defend his title. He hasn’t fought since last October when he defeated Dan Henderson.

Perhaps just as intriguing as the UFC 213 shakeup was the announcement that T.J. Dillashaw will be moved into an August title fight with flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson. Johnson is on the verge of breaking the all-time record for most consecutive title defenses. He currently has 10 and is tied with Anderson Silva.

A date hasn’t been announced but there was speculation that Johnson would headline a PPV card in Seattle that would likely be UFC 215.