UFC/Pro Boxing News: Former UFC Champion Cody Garbrandt calls out Manny Pacquiao

What's the story?

Former UFC bantamweight champion, Cody Garbrandt, has called out Manny Pacquiao when asked in a recent interview about his next potential bout. Cody's last fight was against T.J. Dillashaw, at UFC 227, which he lost via TKO in round one. Manny Pacquiao is currently fresh off a win against Lucas Martin Matthysse, who he beat in July this year.

In case you didn't know...

Cody Garbrandt made his UFC debut against Marcus Brimage on January 3rd, 2015, at UFC 182. He won the fight in the third round, via a technical knockout. Garbrandt is also a former Pinnacle FC fighter and is only the second martial artist to beat Dominick Cruz for the championship belt at UFC 207. This was Cruz's first defeat in almost a decade.

Garbrandt showcases a formidable amateur record of 31 wins, with just 1 loss. The only opponent to have successfully beaten him twice, on two continuous occasions, is current UFC bantamweight champion, T.J. Dillashaw. His first fight against Dillashaw was for the co-main event at UFC 217, which he ended up losing via knockout in the second round. A rematch was scheduled for the date of August 4th, 2017, at UFC 227. Unfortunately for the former champion, he failed to beat his arch-rival, Dillashaw, the second time around as well.

Here is a snippet of a boxing match that Cody Garbrandt featured in during his amateur boxing endeavors.

The heart of the matter

In a recent interview with TMZ Sports, Garbrandt was seen alongside American actor, Chuck Zito, and stand-up comedian, Russell Peters. For the majority of the interview, Peters was noticed expressing his opinion on the Khabib-Mayweather fantasy fight, as well as a possible rematch between Canelo Alvarez and Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Later in the interview, initiated by Peters, Garbrandt went on to call out Manny Pacquiao for a super-fight. The "Pacman" is yet to respond to this.

This is what he had to say about a possible bout with the Filipino boxer:

"I would love that fight, yeah, I would love that."

With a legitimate amateur boxing record, Cody seems to be confident to display his skills in the ring of the 'sweet science'. Here is his interview with TMZ Sports, talking about a potential showdown against "Pacman".

What's next?

Amidst the era of MMA and boxing cross-over match-ups, a fight between Garbrandt and Pacquiao seems highly probable. With the opportunity to make almost five times the paycheck that Cody would normally make whilst fighting MMA, it seems likely he would push to make this fight happen.

Any early predictions on when we can see these two champion fighters battle it out? Leave your opinions and comments below!