5 potential opponents for Cody Garbrandt following his most recent setback

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#4. Cody Garbrandt vs. Frankie Edgar

At this stage in his career, Frankie Edgar would be a beatable opponent for Cody Garbrandt

Given that he’s now 40 years old and has lost three of his last four bouts by knockout, many UFC fans would probably like to see Frankie Edgar hang up his gloves and step away from the octagon altogether.

However, ‘The Answer’ has yet to announce his retirement, so it seems highly likely that we’ll see him return to action at some point in 2022.

So could the former lightweight champion make a good opponent for Cody Garbrandt if he were to return to the bantamweight division? It might seem a little unfair to Edgar, but the answer is absolutely.

Despite his recent setbacks, Edgar remains a highly recognizable name in the UFC, as he’s obviously a former titleholder who has also headlined numerous events in the past decade or so. A win over him still carries a lot of clout, despite his downturn.

Secondly, his recent issues have all come against fighters who had exceptional striking skills, hit hard and could move very fast. All of those descriptions apply to Garbrandt, who, based on their recent bouts, would likely be favored to knock Edgar out.

In this case, it’s probably down to the UFC to consider which of these two fighters has more potential to make money for them in the future.

Naturally, at the age of 30, the answer is Cody Garbrandt. Meaning this fight could make plenty of sense.

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#3. Cody Garbrandt vs. Alexandre Pantoja

Alexandre Pantoja might be one of the most underrated fighters in the entire UFC

After falling to defeat at the hands of Kai Kara-France in December, any dreams that Cody Garbrandt had of jumping straight into contention for the UFC flyweight title went up in smoke.

However, if he were able to defeat Alexandre Pantoja – who is currently ranked above Kara-France at No.3 in the division – then ‘No Love’ would immediately jump the queue and potentially line himself up for a shot at the champ.

Would this be a dangerous fight for Cody Garbrandt? Absolutely. Simply put, Pantoja is not just the dark horse of the flyweight division, but he’s probably one of the UFC’s most underrated fighters, period.

‘The Cannibal’ has excellent submission skills, powerful takedowns, and also hits extremely hard. His only recent losses in the octagon have come to former champ Deiveson Figueiredo and highly ranked contender Askar Askarov – and both fights were close.

However, Pantoja is not quite as fleet-footed as Kara-France, even if he probably hits harder than the Kiwi fighter. That means that against a hitter like Garbrandt, he’d be vulnerable.

Sure, this would be a massively tricky bout for ‘No Love’ to win, but if he could pull the victory off, then it’d erase the memory of his loss to Kara-France entirely.