UFC 213 Should Have Been Cody Garbrandt's Crack at Stardom

John Locher/Associated Press

International Fight Week has been a bit blah this year.

The 2017 iteration of the event the UFC has built around its vaunted early July shows has been duly lacking in attention and interest from a large swath of the collective fandom, and with UFC 213 set to go down as the week's crown jewel on Saturday night, it doesn't appear that's about to change.

In years past, such an event would be headlined by a big star or many big stars. Brock Lesnar, Georges St-Pierre, Ronda Rousey and Jon Jones are some of the select few who've landed the weekend's big ticket, but this year it's a bit different.

This year it's Amanda Nunes, a certain occupant of Rousey's nightmares these days, headlining in a rematch against a virtual unknown whom she's already beaten once. She's supported by an interim middleweight title fight between Yoel Romero and Robert Whittaker, neither of whom most people would know if they passed on the street.

So comparatively, yes, this International Fight Week has felt a little blah.

But there's room to wonder whether or not the UFC had the star to prop up the show and whether or not circumstances may have conspired to rip him from the marquee at the most inopportune moment.

Initially UFC 213 was to be headlined by Cody Garbrandt, the well-inked firebrand who first got attention by making the renowned Dominick Cruz look like an amateur on his way to securing a bantamweight belt last December.

With fan interest around him suddenly spiking, the UFC tried to get some marketing muscle behind Garbrandt, thrusting him into a coaching gig on The Ultimate Fighter opposite hated nemesis TJ Dillashaw.

Silly reality show drama aside, the bout was already the most interesting fight possible for an underserved division and Garbrandt made additional headlines by throttling Dillashaw almost as soon as they began filming, drawing some extra attention to the feud.

The blend of competitive relevance and genuine dislike for one another made it a great headliner for a historically prestigious event, and it was the headliner to push Garbrandt into stardom with a win.

It wasn't meant to be, however.

Reports began to creep out last month that Garbrandt was injured, and the Dillashaw bout was off. Those proved true, vaulting Nunes into the main event and Garbrandt into the relative obscurity of beefing with bodybuilders on the internet.

Dillashaw moved on, ambitiously and aggressively pursuing an out-of-nowhere fight with 125-pound champion Demetrious Johnson—a bid that failed but provided plenty of drama in the process—and the UFC kind of did too.

UFC 213 became about Nunes, Romero and Whittaker, perhaps to its peril.

The bantamweight title became, as has been the case for large stretches of its existence, an afterthought.

Garbrandt became a victim of circumstance and a man without a fight, an opponent or a clear date when it might all come back together again. Through no fault of his own, and even in spite of his best efforts to seize a push the UFC was ready to give him, he lost out on a big event and a big chance to become the next big thing.

It's still possible he'll rebound later in the year, settle his score with Dillashaw and be back in talks as a guy to watch, but missing this week hurts.

It hurt him and it hurt the UFC, which was clearly looking to bolster its list of name-brand fighters beyond temporary boxer Conor McGregor and semi-retired morning talk-show belle Rousey.

As it stands though, Garbrandt will be involved with UFC 213 in the same manner as most of the rest of the world: as a spectator. 

One can't help but think that's a real shame.

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