Former UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt is returning at International Fight Week, with multiple sources confirming to MMA Fighting that he will face Adrian Yanez at UFC 329 on July 11 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Garbrandt most recently defeated Xiao Long by unanimous decision at UFC 326 in March, getting back in the win column after a submission loss to former flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 300 in April 2024 and a decision defeat to Raoni Barcelos at UFC Atlanta last June. Since winning the bantamweight title against Dominick Cruz at UFC 207 in December 2016, Garbrandt has gone 4-7 inside the Octagon.
Yanez had one of the most impressive starts to a UFC career in recent memory after earning his contract on Dana White’s Contender Series, winning his first five promotional bouts and collecting performance bonuses in all five. Since then his results have been inconsistent, with one win in his last five appearances. His most recent outing ended in a controversial majority draw against Ricky Simon at UFC Seattle.
UFC 329 takes place July 11 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and is expected to be headlined by Conor McGregor’s return against Max Holloway.
In one of the most bizarre fights in UFC history, Cody Garbrandt managed to defeat Xiao Long by decision after Long lost two points during the fight.
Both men had their moments in the first. Long dazed Garbrandt with a solid head kick, while Garbrandt landed a strong shot of his own and appeared to be landing the more strategic shots. Long controlled the second round, but the third round was where the real story took place.
After already landing a low blow on Garbrandt, Long landed a hard knee to the groin early in the third, causing Garbrandt to puke in the middle of the Octagon. A fire seemed to be lit under Garbrandt after that, but he was hit with another knee to the groin.
The incidents caused Long to lose two points, and despite taunting for a Max Holloway-style slugfest, Long ended up losing the third round, losing on all three judges’ scorecards.
Xiao Long Loses Two Points, Drops Decision To Cody Garbrandt At UFC 326
This is a bad night for any fighter on the card to point down and do the “Holloway”, especially if you’ve had two points deducted for kicking your opponent in the nuts. #UFC326
I don’t usually tweet about UFC but watching that Xiao Long VS Cody Garbrandt fight was NUTS😂😂 Xiao was dawging Cody but then hit him below the belt 3 times in a row costing him the fight🤯
I highly disagree with the scoring of the Xiao V Garbrandt fight.
I get r1 was close because Cody dropped him for a split second. But that is all Cody dis in that round. Long landed far more and more dmg in that round.
Terence Crawford has named his choice for the best boxer in the UFC — and it isn’t Ilia Topuria or Max Holloway.
Crawford is gearing up to square off against undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez on September 13 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. The high-profile superfight is being co-promoted by TKO Group’s Zuffa Boxing, with UFC CEO Dana White overseeing the event.
“Bud” has cemented his status as one of the premier pound-for-pound fighters of the modern era, boasting an undefeated 41-0 professional record with 31 knockouts, including victories over Errol Spence Jr., José Benavidez Jr., and David Avanesyan.
Image: @tbudcrawford/Instagram
Terence Crawford Names Cody Garbrandt As UFC’s Best Boxer
During a recent appearance on the Full Send Podcast, Terence Crawford was asked to name the best boxer in the UFC. Surprisingly, “Bud” bypassed reining lightweight champion Ilia Topuria and BMF titleholder Max Holloway, both widely regarded as elite pugilists in the promotion, and instead chose former bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt.
“It’s my guy, Cody [Garbrandt],” Crawford said. “He’s the best UFC boxer.”
Although host Kyle Forgeard tried to convince Crawford that “El Matador” is the UFC’s best boxer, the multi-division undisputed champion stood firm, explaining why he believes “No Love” excels in pure boxing.
“Yeah, but I don’t know, man, Cody’s got those hands. But I’m saying, when you’re talking about straight boxing, we ain’t talking about nothing else, we’re talking about straight boxing skills, I just think Cody’s got the best boxing skills in the UFC. But that’s just my opinion.”
Terence Crawford says Cody Garbrandt is the best boxer in the UFC, ranking him above Ilia Topuria 🥊🔥
Garbrandt was last seen competing at UFC Atlanta in June, where he fell to Raoni Barcelos via unanimous decision. “No Love”, who once rode an 11-fight win streak, including dethroning Dominick Cruz at UFC 207 in 2016 to claim the bantamweight title, has since struggled, posting a 3-7 record over his last 10 bouts.
While there will be no UFC pay-per-view in September, the UFC is loading up the card for what will hopefully be a memorable night of action in Las Vegas on October 4 with UFC 320.
UFC CEO and President Dana White took to Instagram Live on the afternoon of Tuesday, July 22, to confirm the leading bouts for the card.
The main event will be a UFC light heavyweight championship rematch between defending champion Magomed Ankalaev and former champion Alex Pereira. The two clashed for the championship back at UFC 313 in March, with Ankalaev pulling off the upset and claiming the gold.
Ankalaev has not lost a fight in MMA since dropping his UFC debut. Ankalaev has won three straight, knocking out Johnny Walker and scoring a decision over Aleksandar Rakic before the win over Pereira.
Pereira had won five straight before losing to Ankalaev. After defeating Jiri Prochazka for the then-vacant gold at UFC 295, Pereira defended the light heavyweight title three times in 2024, scoring finishes over Jamahal Hill, Prochazka, and Khalil Rountree Jr.
Ankalaev vs. Pereira 2 To Be Led In By Dvalishvili vs. Sandhagen & Prochazka vs. Rountree
The UFC 320 co-main event will see the bantamweight title on the line as Merab Dvalishvili defends against No. 3 contender Cory Sandhagen.
Dvalishvili claimed the title at Noche UFC 2: UFC 306 with a win over Sean O’Malley. He has since retained the title against both Umar Nurmagomedov and O’Malley in 2025. Sandhagen has won four of five since falling short in a 2021 interim title fight with Petr Yan, capped off by a finish of former flyweight champ Deivesion Figueiredo in May.
The previously mentioned Prochazka and Rountree Jr will also be featured at UFC 320, as they will take on one another. Both men come into this fight off wins over the aforementioned Jamahal Hill this year, with Prochazka finishing Hill at UFC 311 in January and Rountree sweeping the cards against Hill in the main event of UFC Baku last month.
UFC fighter Cody Garbrandt has once again made it clear that he’s interested in throwing down with Sean O’Malley at some point in the future.
Once upon a time, Cody Garbrandt was the UFC bantamweight champion. He also spent a lot of time being viewed as the next big thing in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, but unfortunately, things didn’t quite pan out that way. Following consecutive losses to rival TJ Dillashaw, his career seemed to unravel pretty dramatically – and that’s us putting it lightly.
Nowadays, Cody Garbrandt is looking for fights that really motivate him. In a recent interview, he made it known that he still wants to fight Sean O’Malley, who he’s had an ongoing feud with for quite some time now.
Cody Garbrandt still wants Sean O’Malley fight
“I would love to f*ck him up,” Garbrandt told MMA Fighting while discussing his partnership with Indian Motorcycles. “He just always talks shit. I think he has an infatuation with me. He’s so jealous of me and I can’t believe he became a world champion.
“He can’t wrestle for a lick, can’t defend a takedown. I mean, Merab straight bullied him. But he’s been calling me out forever, so I’ve been ready to fight that dude. I’ve got what it takes, I know how to beat this dude. The way that I fight, it’ll be a bad night for him. But that’s up to the UFC — I’ve tagged [Dana White], I tagged him in it. If that’s the next fight they want to do, I think that’s going to be a great pay-per-view fight, good drawing.
“He’s got a good fanbase, but they’re younger, you know, the Twitch people, the video games, but I’m a dog. I would love that fight.”
After having his hand raised in two straight over Trevin Jones and Brian Kelleher for his first win streak in seven years, “No Love’s” planned surge back to the top was once again stalled when he fell via submission to Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 300 this past April.
Per MMA reporter Cole Shelton, however, the ex-bantamweight champ has withdrawn days out from the Apex-held event. The reason for his pull-out has not yet been disclosed.
Breaking: Multiple sources informed me Cody Garbrandt is out of his #UFCVegas100 fight against Miles Johns on Saturday. Johns is hoping to remain on the card. https://t.co/FW28AlLJFv
The hope is for Johns (15-2, 1 NC) to remain on the card and face a late-notice replacement opponent, if the promotion is able to find one.
The 30-year-old was looking to make it three wins out of three outings this year at the expense of Garbrandt. After his one appearance in 2023 saw a victory overturned when he tested positive for the banned substance turinabol, “Chapo” has bounced back with consecutive unanimous decision wins over Cody Gibson and Douglas Silva de Andrade in 2024.
With the cancellation of Garbrandt vs. Johns, the current fights expected to take place at this weekend’s UFC Fight Night at the Apex are as follows:
Main Card:
Neil Magny vs. Carlos Prates (welterweight main event)
Gerald Meerschaert vs. Reinier de Ridder (middleweight)
Ricky Turcios vs. Benardo Sopaj (bantamweight)
Luana Pinheiro vs. Gillian Robertson (women’s strawweight)
Mansur Abdul-Malik vs. Dusko Todorović (middleweight)
Preliminary Card:
Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs. Denise Gomes (women’s strawweight)
Gaston Bolaños vs. Cortavious Romious (bantamweight)
Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos vs. Zachary Scroggin (welterweight)
Matthew Semelsberger vs. Charles Radtke (welterweight)
Cody Stamann vs. Da’Mon Blackshear (bantamweight)
Tresean Gore vs. Antonio Trócoli (middleweight)
Melissa Dixon vs. Klaudia Sygula (women’s bantamweight)
UFC bantamweight Miles Johns is preparing to face the biggest name of his UFC run to date when he returns to the Apex this weekend. At UFC Vegas 100, he will take on the former 135-pound champion, Cody Garbrandt.
Johns has been on a good run recently with three unanimous decision wins and a no contest against Dan Argueta in between. For his fight against Garbrandt, he intends on making use of the smaller Octagon inside the UFC facility.
He wants to put pressure on “No Love” and is expecting the former champion to try and counter strike off the backfoot, using his speed and footwork to circle around the outside of the cage. However, Johns believes that he can disrupt this by playing on his opponent’s tendencies.
We have seen a far more reserved version of Garbrandt in his recent fights with the likes of Deiveson Figueiredo, Brian Kelleher and Trevin Jones. When he was on his difficult run of results after losing the belt, he was more well known for getting into firefights but it wasn’t working in his favor.
Therefore, Johns told MMA Junkie in a recent interview that he believes he can try to bait Garbrandt to stray from a more patient style if he is able to pressure him and play on his emotions. He wants to bring out the old version of the former champion who would often throw strategy out of the window and engage in a kill or be killed approach.
“I’m expecting for him to crack back but I think that if I get him up against the wall and I start putting some heat on him, he’s not going to like that and I want to make it an exciting fight. I want a fight that the fans have fun watching and that they enjoy so we’ll see what happens. Hopefully, I also know he’s a little bit emotional so if he’s waiting a little bit and I tell him like, ‘Come on man, what we waiting on? Let’s get this thing popping.’ I think that he will oblige but we’ll see.”
The main event of UFC 308 on October 26 can’t come soon enough as one of the biggest fights of the year goes down in Abu Dhabi. One of the most exciting elements of the fight is that both the champion and challenger are known as two of the best boxers in the UFC.
Ilia Topuria has got dynamite in his hands with the speed to back it up and as for Max Holloway, he’s a record breaker when it comes to significant strikes for a reason.
Both men do their best work with their hands but one former UFC champion, who is also known for packing a mean punch, believes that Holloway’s reliance on this could cost him in the featherweight title fight headliner.
Cody Garbrandt Says Ilia Topuria Is The More Diverse Striker And Mixed Martial Artist
In a recent appearance on the Jaxxon Podcast, Cody Garbrandt gave his thoughts on the fight that everyone is going to be talking about over the next few weeks.
Garbrandt believes that though both men are excellent boxers, Topuria is the more varied striker and overall mixed martial artist. “No Love” pointed to Holloway’s trilogy of fights against Alexander Volkanovski where despite “Blessed” having success, his boxing wasn’t enough to seal a victory.
“I don’t think Max, and I love Max to death, I don’t think he mixes it enough for mixed martial arts. He’s boxing heavy, doesn’t throw too many kicks. You look at the Volkanovski fights, he didn’t really mix it together, the MMA together. I thought those fights were super close, he won some of them, they gave them to Volk but with Ilia, he wrestles, he grapples, he does it all, he kicks. But I’m excited to see it like Max is so long, so rangy. Super tough, got a granite chin.”
What Cody Garbrandt accomplished back at UFC 207 in 2016 will go down in the UFC history books as one of the greatest performances from a title challenger that we have ever seen. The 10-0 knockout artist was a significant underdog for good reason against, arguably the greatest 135-pounder of all time, Dominick Cruz.
Garbrandt had put together an impressive run of finishes and had a good narrative with Cruz due to the champion’s history with defeating fighters from Team Alpha Male. However, “No Love” was able to beat the champion at his own game, putting on the kind of performance that no one could have expected.
He broke down how he was able to secure the biggest win of his career and make it look easy during a recent appearance on the Jaxxon Podcast.
Garbrandt’s Keys to Beating Dominick Cruz
Garbrandt said that he already knew a lot about Cruz heading into the fight and that removed the need for him to try and pick apart the unorthodox style that “The Dominator” used to stay a step ahead of his opponents at all times.
His incredibly unique footwork, timing and angles was something that the challenger was well prepared for due to several factors.
For a start, he was surrounded by several fighters that had already faced Cruz inside the Octagon and were able to pass what they had learned on to him. Garbrandt also came through the early stages of his career whilst watching Cruz rise through the WEC and into the UFC so he had been studying his game for many years.
Finally, as he stated on the podcast, Garbrandt also believes that his training from a young age helped him to deal with an opponent like the champion who would be constantly moving. This, he states, was the missing piece of the puzzle that so many others didn’t have.
“Like I said, watching him, I knew his rhythm and his footwork, just watching him over and over again and then just my style. For sure, my uncle was there since the beginning so he groomed me for this kind of fights. A lot of movement, staying tight, staying high guard, little angles, moving with him.
That’s one thing, I think a lot of people get in there with Dominick and they’re like, ‘Ah, his footwork, he’s unorthodox, he moves differently,’ and they just kind of like sit there and wait for him to get his rhythm. You got to dance with that guy, you can’t let him do the dance.”
MMA News has you covered with this week’s UFC matchmaking bulletin, featuring all the additions to the upcoming cards.
With UFC events being held most weekends, Mick Maynard and Sean Shelby have their matchmaking work cut out if they’re to fill them, meaning new bouts are confirmed each and every week.
In recent days, a few notable fights were made official by the UFC or reported by reputable sources. For more information on those matchups, check out the links below:
And for more detailed information on one newly booked fight that may have flown under your radar between July 15 and July 21, scroll down and check out this week’s UFC Matchmaking Bulletin spotlighted fight.
Cody Garbandt vs. Miles Johns – UFC Event TBA (October 12)
Having had his planned surge back toward the bantamweight title picture stalled this year, former champion Cody Garbrandt will look to bounce back this fall.
Garbrandt (14-6) endured a rough patch following his title crowning as an undefeated fighter back in 2016. He subsequently lost five of his next six fights, with his sole victory coming in the form of a violent knockout of Raphael Assunção. After that preceded a loss to Rob Font, “No Love” made an ill-advised and unsuccessful drop to flyweight before returning to 135 pounds and winning form in 2023 with his first run of victories since losing the belt to TJ Dillashaw.
Having been unable to continue the momentum from triumphs over Trevin Jones and Brian Kelleher when he shared the cage with Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 300 this past April, Garbrandt will be back fighting those outside the divisional rankings when he throws down with Miles Johns (15-2, 1 NC) on October 12. “Chapo” is unbeaten across his last four fights, most recently outpointing Douglas Silva de Andrade at the Apex in June.
This bantamweight bout was first reported by Eurosport Nederland’s Marcel Dorff.
🚨🚨Bantamweight Banger🚨🚨
Former bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt returns on October 12th. He takes on Miles Johns.
Alex Pereira’s recent successful defense of his light heavyweight title at UFC 303 has added the Brazilian’s name to the ever-growing list of fighters who have successfully changed weight divisions within the UFC.
Today we take a look at some of the most notable examples (along with a few that didn’t fare quite as well).
CONOR McGREGOR
The original ‘champ-champ’. The first man to simultaneously hold championship belts in two different weight divisions. “The Notorious” signed with the UFC back in 2013 having won both the featherweight and lightweight titles in Cage Warriors and within two-and-a-half years he knocked out Jose Aldo to claim the 145-pound belt.
Image: Conor McGregor IG
Less than a year later, he put on perhaps the best display of his career when he beat Eddie Alvarez at the iconic Madison Square Garden to claim the 155-pound strap. He has also competed in the welterweight division, fighting Nate Diaz twice and Donald Cerrone. His recent (now postponed) comeback bout against Michael Chandler had been set to take place over five rounds at 170 pounds.
DANIEL CORMIER
“DC” enjoyed huge success fighting as a heavyweight prior to signing with the UFC in 2013. He beat Antonio “Big Foot” Silva and Josh Barnett to win the Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix in 2012 and began his UFC career with wins over former heavyweight champion Frank Mir and Roy Nelson, before making the decision to move down to 205 pounds as his teammate Cain Velazquez was the heavyweight champion at the time.
https://youtu.be/4NCHPFS7VzQ?si=PPthrGer2lHnEjBH
Cormier submitted Anthony “Rumble” Johnson in 2015 to claim the vacant light heavyweight title, and three years later, he made the decision to move up and challenge then-champion Stipe Miocic for the heavyweight title. He shocked the world by knocking out Miocic in the first round, although the Cleveland-born firefighter gained his revenge by beating Cormier twice in 2019/2020, retiring him from the sport.
Image: Robert Whittaker Instagram
ROBERT WHITTAKER
“Bobby Knuckles” signed with the UFC back in 2012 off the back of some impressive performances on The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes and had mixed results during his time competing in the welterweight division. He won three of his first five fights, but losses to Court McGee and Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson convinced Whittaker to test the waters at 185 pounds.
What followed was an eight-fight winning streak, wins over the likes of Yoel Romero and “Jacare” Souza and the UFC middleweight title. Whittaker lost the belt to Israel Adesanya in 2022 but is still riding high in the division and finds himself in the title picture once again after his recent knockout victory over Ikram Aliskerov.
HENRY CEJUDO
The 2008 Olympic gold medalist won his first four fights inside the Octagon to earn a shot at then-UFC flyweight champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson back in 2016. Although Cejudo was knocked out in the first round, he soon worked his way back into title contention with some impressive victories over Wilson Reis and Sergio Pettis.
The rematch was a much closer affair, and “Triple C” ended Johnson’s record-breaking title reign and emerged victorious by way of a contentious split decision. A year later he moved up to 135lbs to challenge Marlon Moraes for the vacant UFC bantamweight title. He finished Moraes and then beat former champion Dominick Cruz in his first title defence in 2020, before relinquishing his belt and announcing his retirement, in what seemed like a power play due to contract issues with the UFC.
3 Fighters Who Moved Down A Weight Division…With Disastrous Results!
TJ DILLASHAW
TJ Dillashaw enjoyed two separate runs as UFC bantamweight champion. He shocked the MMA world when he destroyed Renan Barao at UFC 173 to capture the 135-pound belt. After losing the title to Dominck Cruz two years later, he regrouped and beat Raphael Assuncao and John Lineker to earn another shot at gold.
He knocked out former teammate Cody Garbrandt (who had won the belt from Cruz a year earlier), and after finishing “No Love” again in a rematch, made the decision to cut to 125 pounds to challenge Henry Cejudo for the flyweight title.
The decision proved disastrous. Dillashaw was knocked out after just 32 seconds, and a couple of months later it was announced he had been suspended for two years by USADA due to testing positive for EPO in the lead-up to the Cejudo fight.
He returned after his suspension ended and beat Cory Sandhagen to earn another shot at the 135-pound belt but went into the fight against Aljamain Sterling carrying a serious shoulder injury and was finished easily. He has since walked away from the sport.
CODY GARBRANDT
Cody Garbrandt came into that first bantamweight title fight with TJ Dillashaw unbeaten at 10-0 and riding high off the back of a career-best performance against Dominick Cruz. The two losses he suffered at the hands of Dillashaw seemed to affect him badly. He was also knocked out by Pedro Munhoz in his next fight, and although he would claim a highlight reel finish over Raphael Assuncao in 2020, a defeat to Rob Font soon afterwards convinced him a change was needed.
Image: Cody Garbrandt Instagram
With no discernible path back into the bantamweight picture, “No Love” decided to make the cut to 125 pounds for a fight against Australian flyweight contender Kai Kara-France at UFC 269. Another first-round knockout defeat followed, and Garbrandt stepped away from the spotlight for a much-needed break.
His return to the bantamweight division has been a little less calamitous. Wins over Trevin Jones and Brian Kelleher, followed by a submission loss to Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 300, have hinted that perhaps his future lies slightly outside of the title picture for now, but most definitely should be at 135 pounds.
DAN HOOKER
“The Hangman” picked up a string of impressive wins in the UFC’s lightweight division between 2017 and 2021, beating the likes of Paul Felder, Al Iaquinta, Gilbert Burns, and Jim Miller. His record at 155 pounds during that five-year spell sits at eight wins and four defeats, but losses against the biggest names in the division such as Michael Chandler, Dustin Poirier and Islam Makhachev convinced the Australian to think about a move down to featherweight.
Image: UFC.com
His featherweight debut against Arnold Allen in London, England ended disastrously. At six-feet tall, Hooker looked frail and weakened at 145 pounds and Allen destroyed him in little over two minutes. Hooker has since returned to the lightweight division and reeled off victories over Claudio Puelles and Jalin Turner.
One thing we know for certain: finding the right weight class is of paramount importance for a fighter. It can be the defining factor between a promising career and a championship legacy in the highly demanding world of the UFC.
Read More: Jon Anik Maintains Conor McGregor Has ‘An Itch That Can Only Be Scratched In The Octagon’ Amid UFC Return Uncertainty
Cody Garbrandt’s uncle is worried about his health and safety.
Coming up in combat sports, Cody Garbrandt was under the tutelage of his uncle Robert Meese. Meese was his boxing and a striking coach. He was Garbrandt’s main coach in his early days and has stayed with him through his time at Team Alpha Male. Meese has seen Garbrandt through ups and downs and was there when he won his bantamweight title. But recently, Garbrandt has been having trouble finding a win in the UFC.
Meese spoke presently to TalkSports about his nephews’ future and his health overall.
“If Cody gets knocked out again, I am pretty sure his career is over,” Meese said. “But Cody can come back, George Foreman hit a bump in his career and came back and he had more fun and made more money and won the heavyweight title.”
Garbrandt has lost two in a row and five of his last six. Of those five losses, four were via KO or TKO. After losing his bantamweight title, Garbrandt decided to try his hand at flyweight. He made his flyweight debut last year but lost to Kai Kara-France. Garbrandt’s uncle knows firsthand what a significant weight cut can do to a fighter.
“In terms of cutting weight, I can only speak about what I know. I was preparing for a fight, and I had to cut extra weight at the last minute due to the opponent. So, I had to get down to a certain weight,” Meese said. “Then the night of the fight, I thought I was going to die. I cut so much weight it felt like Mike Tyson hit me. So, you’re really not going to know until the night of the fight how it feels to get hit at that weight. The real weight was 125 pounds but you’re not really doing any sparring at 125.”
The future is unclear for Garbrandt right now. With the loss to Kara-France, his chances at getting a title shot at 125 pounds seem slim. His best bet might be to return to bantamweight and try again to regain his title. From 2015 up until he lost to TJ Dillashaw in 2017 he was unstoppable. He could fight a rematch that the fans could be interested in and work his way back up to the title fight.
As for staying at flyweight, his uncle doesn’t seem to believe that is a good idea.
“We all knew Cody wasn’t at his best going into that fight, me, Urijah Faber, Chris Holdsworth we all knew,” he said.
Do you think Cody Garbrandt is nearing the end of his career or will he have a resurgence?
UFC Flyweight Champion Brandon Moreno believes the hype surrounding Cody Garbrandt’s move to 125 pounds may have been too much for him.
Moreno is set to face former champion Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 270 in their trilogy. He earned the belt over Figueiredo in their last matchup at UFC 263 via submission.
Moreno understands the ups and downs of the fight game better than most. He went from falling short of The Ultimate Fighter title to winning a championship belt on MMA’s biggest platform.
One of the biggest storylines in his division as of late was the addition of Garbrandt, a former bantamweight champion who entered the flyweight division with expectations. His flyweight debut didn’t go according to plan as he lost via first-round TKO to Kai Kara-France at UFC 269.
Garbrandt’s loss to Kara-France was his fifth over his last six bouts. During a recent interview with MMA Junkie’s Danny Segura, Moreno gave his thoughts on Garbrandt’s troubles in the Octagon.
“It was sad,” Moreno said. “You get carried away by the hype because they start doing all the promos, and they start promoting Cody Garbrandt, and you kind of start believing like, ‘Hey, he could be something interesting in the division.’
“But then what happened happened, and you start reflecting on a sober mind. It was a tough scene for Cody. He was knocked out at 135 pounds. His chin was touched. He cuts the weight – who knows how the brain was? Then you give him a Kai Kara-France, who hits very hard, and I know it because I already fought him. It wasn’t a good situation for him, and it’s sad.” (h/t Bloody Elbow)
Moreno isn’t the only big-name fighter to express sympathy for Garbrandt. Rising bantamweight contender Sean O’Malley went from talking trash to saying he felt badfor Garbrandt in weeks.
Despite his losing skid, Garbrandt has remained optimistic regarding his future at 125 pounds and beyond. A matchup between Moreno and Garbrandt is still possible down the line, depending on how their next Octagon appearances play out.
Sean O’Malley went from trash-talking Cody Garbrandt to now feeling sympathy towards him.
Sean O’Malley is coming off a great win at UFC 269. At that same event, former bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt lost his flyweight fight against Kai Kara-France. Leading up to that UFC 269 event, Garbrandt and O’Malley were trash-talking towards each other, and it seemed like they would like to fight in the future. However, O’Malley’s feelings towards Garbrandt have changed.
“After Cody got knocked out, I got asked at the press conference, ‘What do you wanna say?’ And I just, I feel bad for him,” O’Malley told Michael Bisping on his podcast. “He’s lost a lot of fights in a row, and I don’t really have anything negative to say about him.”
O’Malley has found himself in the top fifteen on that bantamweight rankings for the first time in his UFC career. He has caught heat in the past for not facing ranked opponents, and when he was targeting a former champion in Garbrandt that, might have been his way of proving the haters wrong. Now, Garbrandt is no longer ranked in any division and O’Malley is looking towards other opponent options.
“It’s just tough. I go out there and beat him, I do not see it doing much for me right now… He’s 1-6 or something in his last seven,” O’Malley said. “I think he’s won one fight since 2017. I go out there and beat him, it doesn’t really do what it would’ve three or four fights ago. I go out there and lose to Cody, who’s 1-7 and got knocked out, that does a lot of negative damage towards me. I just don’t think that’s realistically the next fight.”
O’Malley is right about Garbrandt having only won a single fight in his last six. Since losing the bantamweight belt, he has had a hard time inside the Octagon. It is unclear at this time if he will remain at flyweight or revert back to 135 pounds. Either way, it is highly unlikely he will face off against O’Malley next based on these latest comments.
What do you think Cody Garbrandt should do going forward?
One of Cody Garbrandt’s biggest nemeses in his MMA career is TJ Dillashaw. Dillashaw is now 2-0 over his former training partner, but almost a year prior to their first contest, Garbrandt was already throwing shots at his future opponent and showing him “No Love.”
The following article was published on this day five years ago. It is presented to you in its original, unaltered form, courtesy of the MMA News Archives.
On This Day Five Years Ago…
[ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED JANUARY 8, 2017, 3:25 PM]
Headline: Cody Garbrandt: ‘T.J. Dillashaw Can’t Even Draw PPV Buys’
Author: Fernando Quiles Jr.
Cody Garbrandt may have just won the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) bantamweight title, but he’s already looking to call the shots. Big money fights seem to be a recurring theme these days and “No Love” is no exception. Garbrandt hasn’t been shy about his interest in fighting featherweight champion Jose Aldo and lightweight title holder Conor McGregor.
One fighter that doesn’t seem to pique Garbrandt’s interest is his former Team Alpha Male training partner, T.J. Dillashaw. For Garbrandt, it boils down to Dillashaw’s pay-per-view (PPV) drawing abilities (via MMAFighting.com):
“Like I said, I went for the title shot…it was a two man race. Really it was just about getting paid, getting a contract, is why T.J. squeezed back in. You know, he was selling peanut butter, and anteing up $100,000 to bribe Cruz into a title shot. Dude, I don’t want to even speak on Dillashaw. He doesn’t even draw pay-per-view buys. It’s not even a fight that makes sense from that standpoint.”
“No Love” knows what it was like to be a teenager hoping to one day capture UFC gold. It’s something he had visualized for over 10 years and it came to fruition at UFC 207 against Dominick Cruz. Garbrandt says he’s now the hunted and wants to keep evolving.
“But like I said, I got my eyes on Jose Aldo. I saw something that he wanted to fight me, so I’m ready to take down another legend. That’s why I got into this sport. I’m ready to build my legacy, and then to defend it. There’s going to be kids like me, that are teenagers, watching right now that want to whoop my ass. So I got to make sure that I keep improving and improving and doing my legacy. That’s why I jumped into the UFC and the fight game to do this, it’s to be the greatest. Lord willing, I’ll have longevity and have a lot of success.”
Despite Garbrandt’s comments, few would argue that Dillashaw is deserving of a title shot. The former bantamweight champion swept John Lineker on the same card “No Love” won the 135-pound strap. The Elevation Fight Team standout is 6-1 in his last seven bouts.
Recently, O’Malley spoke out about the call out he received from the former bantamweight champion and why now is not the right time for him to accept a bout with Garbrandt.
“Dude, Cody (Garbrandt) wants–he’s not getting that fight (with me),” O’Malley said on his podcast, The TimboSugarShow. “When he said it, you could see in his voice (sic), ‘Oh, I want, uh’ – but that fight’s not happening. It doesn’t make sense for him to say that. I wonder if that’s CTE. He’s been knocked out five (four) times in the last two years (five years). That fights not happening, at least, not next. He needs to – it just doesn’t make sense, dude. It just literally doesn’t make sense.”
Garbrandt expressed interest in O’Malley following his failed flyweight debut at UFC 269. Since bantamweight seems like the next logical option for Garbrandt, maybe O’Malley could be an interesting choice.
Despite O’Malley saying he is no longer interested, he has been looking for a ranked opponent to face. His recent win over Raulian Paiva put him in the top fifteen for the first time in his career. Garbrandt is no longer ranked at bantamweight since he dropped to 125 pounds, but he could very well find himself back there with one fight at 135 pounds.
O’Malley is very popular and has been called out by several fighters following his last win. If he is not interested in Garbrandt anymore, he should have no trouble finding a ranked fighter to face next.
Who would you like to see Sean O’Malley face next?
Cody Garbrandt is maintaining a positive mindset despite suffering a brutal loss.
Garbrandt suffered a brutal knockout loss at UFC’s final pay-per-view event of 2021, getting stopped in the first round by Kai Kara-France. Despite this, the former UFC bantamweight champion recently talked about the future of his career, proclaiming that he still has a lot to give.
“When it’s over, I say it’s over. Not the fans, not Dana, not anybody but me. When I know and I understand that I don’t have it anymore, I don’t have what it takes to push myself and train to be prepared to go out there and give my best shot to win, then I’ll be done,” said Garbrandt on his latest episode of the Rollin With The Homies podcast.
“I can honestly say that, and I have a good support system around me that’ll be like, ‘Look, let’s look at something else.’ But that’s so far down the road. I’m 30 years old, I still have a lot left in the tank to do. We’ll make the corrections, we’ll figure it out.” (h/t MMA Junkie)
Garbrandt Struggling Since Title Reign
Garbrandt’s recent loss at UFC 269 continued a long streak of unfortunate results. The former UFC bantamweight champion has only won once in his past five appearances. His sole victory since dropping his belt was an emphatic win in 2020, scoring a walk-off knockout against Raphael Assuncao.
Garbrandt was making his debut at the flyweight class just last month. He made weight for his fight and is still open to competing at that weight class again.
His recent success is in great contrast to earlier years in his career. Garbrandt became a UFC champ in 2017, putting together a stellar performance against Dominick Cruz to take the 135-pound belt.
Garbrandt was undefeated at the time, boasting 11 pro wins when heading into his first title fight.
Kai Kara-France is still reeling over his UFC 269 win.
Kai Kara-France is flying high following his win at UFC 269. He defeated former bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt by TKO in the first round of their matchup. The win was probably the biggest of Kara-France’s career so far. The performance shot the 28-year-old to number six in the flyweight rankings. Now, two weeks removed from the event, Kara-France is still in disbelief of his performance. He spoke about his feelings on The Schmo Youtube channel.
“Every morning I wake up and I’m like, ‘Did that really happen?” Kara-France explained. “It couldn’t have gone any better, from the lead-up to the actual fight, and then the finish and getting a bonus, and everyone really doubting me and kinda overlooking me. Especially Cody overlooking me, already telling Dana, ‘I’ll be the alternate for the next flyweight title fight.’
Kara-France has been a staple in the UFC flyweight division since 2018 when he made his promotional debut. Since then, he has only lost two fights, one of which was against champion Brandon Moreno. Despite Kara-France’s résumé, most media attention was on Garbrandt and his move to 125 pounds. Kara-France thought the UFC had a plan to give Garbrandt a title shot off a win and was glad to put a stop to that.
“So yeah, the whole lead-up was a weird one,” Kara-France said. “I knew that I’d been putting in the work, so when I turned up on fight week, I was focused. I only had one person in front of me and that’s all I was focused on, which was Cody. And he’s too busy trying to fight everyone else but me and won’t even acknowledge me. It was kinda like I was set up. He was getting set up for the title shot, and I was just a pawn and a stepping stone for him, to build him up for flyweight. So I was here to spoil the party, and that’s what I did.”
The win over a former champion is sure to give Kara-France a boost in motivation and confidence. He will need this confidence when he takes on Askar Askarov on March 26, as announced yesterday. Because should he win this bout, a title shot will more than likely be waiting for him.
Will Kai Kara-France become the UFC flyweight champion in 2022?
Cody Garbrandt has had his share of drama over the years involving his peers, whether it be in heated interviews, on social media platforms, or even backstage at a UFC event. On this day two years ago, we ran a story covering one of these occurrences, this time involving Petr Yan.
The following article is presented to you in its original, unaltered form, courtesy of the MMA News Archives.
On This Day Two Years Ago…
[ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED DECEMBER 19, 2019, 1:20 PM]
Headline: Petr Yan Speaks On Backstage Altercation With Cody Garbrandt
To open up the main card of UFC 245 this past Saturday night (Dec. 14), Yan clashed with Team Alpha Male head honcho Urijah Faber. Garbrandt was in attendance to support his teammate and mentor Faber. It was a rough night for “The California Kid” as Yan knocked him out with a head kick in the third round.
Yan Explains Confrontation With Garbrandt
Footage surfaced of Yan and Garbrandt exchanging words backstage at UFC 245. The two bantamweights had to be separated. Speaking to MMAFighting.com, Yan said that the issues stem from a social media interaction.
“Nothing really happened,” he said of the backstage incident. “Cody wrote, ‘Get this MFer,’ on Dana White’s Instagram page, I jokingly replied, ‘You are next, No Chin,’ and he tried to act tough and crossed the line by commenting that he will see me tomorrow and smack me like a little ho. You all saw what happened when he saw me face to face: he was hiding his hands behind his back, acting all emotional and didn’t back up his words proving that he is all talk. He is a puppy – he barks, but doesn’t bite.”
Garbrandt hasn’t been seen in action since March. He’s on a three-fight skid and has been stopped in all of those losses. As for Yan, he may see himself getting a title opportunity or a number one contender bout soon. He’s riding a nine-fight winning streak.
Dominick Cruz comes to the defense of his former foe Cody Garbrandt following UFC 269.
UFC 269 was filled with amazing finishes and great performances from top to bottom. Two men who put on a show were Dominick Cruz and Kai Kara-France. Kara-France put a beating on former bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt and could have ended his promising run in the flyweight division. Cruz, however, doesn’t believe that the KO should be the end of the road for Garbarandt.
“I know that Cody is a champion,” Cruz said during UFC 269 post-fight press conference. “Obviously, in his heart and mind. I think he will get back on track. He is still very young. Cutting down to 125 is, I don’t even know how that’s possible for him, but he made it work and he said it was easy so I think he’ll be fine. Just give the guy some time and let him find his bearings with his team or whatever he needs to find. I got nothing but faith in the guy.”
There is a history between these two. Back in 2016, it was Grabrandt that defeated Cruz and took away his bantamweight belt. There was quite a bit of animosity between the two of them leading up to the fight. During the fight, it was clear that Garbrandt was quite comfortable and began mocking Cruz with dance moves. Now, five years later, Cruz, coming off a win at 135 pounds, is coming to the defense of Garbrandt, who is now riding a two-fight losing streak.
Garbrandt decided to make the move down to 125 pounds in order to try his hand at another title. Now with the loss to Kara-France, the future is unknown for Garbrandt. Curz believes that he could still continue at flyweight, but perhaps he will move back up and find himself face to face with Cruz once more.
Do you think Cody Garbrandt should remain at flyweight desire his loss to Kai Kara-France?
UFC bantamweight prospect Sean O’Malley was in the middle of an interview when he saw Cody Garbrandt get knocked out in his flyweight debut.
O’Malley and Garbrandt went at it earlier during UFC 269 fight week at the pre-fight press conference, as the two went back-and-forth on the mic and also nearly brawled on stage. O’Malley and Garbrandt were rumored to potentially fight last year, but negotiations never materialized.
Many felt that Garbrandt was the more confident trash talker during the press conference, but O’Malley ended up getting the last laugh after Garbrandt suffered a brutal knockout against Kai Kara-France.
“Oh, Cody. Cody just got knocked out. Sucks for him, deuces,” O’Malley said. “Some people just aren’t built for this.”
Sean O’Malley Later Changed His Tone On Cody Garbrandt
O’Malley and Garbrandt clearly have some disdain for each other, but O’Malley appeared to reverse course during his post-fight press conference. When asked if he saw Garbrandt’s fight, O’Malley took the chance to praise him just minutes after roasting him in an earlier interview.
“Cody’s also a legend in his own right,” O’Malley said. “And I’m not gonna sit up here and say anything negative about him. He’s probably gonna have a rough couple days, couple weeks, whatever it’s gonna be.”
O’Malley remains with only one defeat in his professional career after knocking out Raulian Paiva at UFC 269. It was arguably the toughest test of his UFC tenure, which he passed with flying colors.
O’Malley has been criticized for the level of competition he’s faced so far at bantamweight. He has yet to crack the bantamweight rankings, as UFC president Dana White recently said he isn’t ready for top-level opponents.
As for Garbrandt, his UFC future remains unclear. His flyweight debut obviously didn’t meet his expectations and he’s suffered a series of brutal knockouts in four of his last six fights.
O’Malley and Garbrandt had once been considered two of the top bantamweight prospects, but it appears the two of them might be heading on different paths in the UFC. O’Malley could earn a spot soon in the bantamweight rankings while Garbrandt is still looking to get back on the winning side of things in the UFC.
What do you think is next for Sean O’Malley and Cody Garbrandt?
Cody Garbrandt has always been a bit of a hothead, and fans at home caught a live glimpse of this in 2016.
Tonight, both Cody Garbrandt and Dominick Cruz will be competing at UFC 269, but much has changed since their 2016 bout. For one thing, neither man is in the top 5 at bantamweight anymore. In Garbrandt’s case, he isn’t even in the division at all.
But five years ago, Garbrandt had all the momentum in the world and an undefeated record. He also had a deep animosity for then-champion Dominick Cruz ahead of their UFC 207 bout. Don’t believe me? Look no further than the following article we ran five years ago.
The following article is presented in its original, unaltered form, courtesy of the MMA News Archives.
[ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED DECEMBER 28, 2016, 8:38 PM]
Headline: Video: Garbrandt Storms Off Joint-Interview With Cruz, Goes Looking For Him
Author: Matt Boone
Well, tensions are definitely rising, folks!
During their latest split-screen joint television interview, UFC Bantamweight Champion Dominick Cruz and Team Alpha Male contender Cody “No Love” Garbrandt reached their boiling point.
Featured above is an excerpt from the joint interview, which aired via The Fight Network based out of Canada, and saw Garbrandt threaten to leave and find Cruz, who he mentioned was only one room over from where he was currently sitting.
At that point, Garbrandt took his microphone off and apparently went in search of the reigning UFC 135-pound champion.
One day he won’t have to look for Cruz is this Friday, as Garbrandt becomes the latest member of the Team Alpha Male camp to try and dethrone the UFC’s longtime 135-pound champion when the two meet in the co-main event of Friday’s UFC 207: Nunes vs. Rousey pay-per-view event.
UFC 207: Nunes vs. Rousey takes place from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, airing live on pay-per-view this Friday, December 30th. Join us here at MMANews.com on Friday evening for live round-by-round results coverage of the UFC 207 pay-per-view.
For more of The Fight Network’s coverage of UFC 207: Nunes vs. Rousey, visit their official website at FightNetwork.com.
Tonight at UFC 269, both Cody Garbrandt and Sean O’Malley will be in action. They won’t be facing one another, however. In fact, they won’t even be fighting in the same division.
Despite the Twitter beef between the two men, the odds of them fighting are farther apart than ever before, even though the two squared up in the pre-fight press conference earlier this week.
Just as Dana White is against O’Malley facing “top” opponents now, he felt the same way last year.
The following article is presented to you in its original, unaltered form, courtesy of the MMA News Archives.
[ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED JUNE 17, 2020, 10:28 AM]
Headline: UFC President Dana White Shuts Down Cody Garbrandt vs. Sean O’Malley Talk
Author: Fernando Quiles Jr.
UFC president Dana White doesn’t feel it’s the right time to book Cody Garbrandt vs. Sean O’Malley.
O’Malley and Garbrandt have been throwing some verbal jabs ever since UFC 250. Both men scored spectacular one-punch knockouts that earned them performance bonuses. They then got into a fun back-and-forth over who had the better finish. Then, O’Malley expressed his belief that he can knock Garbrandt out. Obviously, “No Love” disagrees.
Dana White Puts a Halt To Garbrandt vs. O’Malley
O’Malley is still quite young in his pro MMA career. While many are calling for him to get a step up a competition, a bout with a former UFC bantamweight champion as dangerous as Garbrandt might be too soon. That’s the belief White shared during his appearance on The Schmozone Podcast (h/t BJPenn.com).
“The problem is, you take a Sean O’ Malley…first of all he has been off for a couple of years, young kid, just coming in, like where does he goes from here? You got to give this kid a few more fights before he gets to Cody Garbrandt,” White said. “If he fought and beat Cody Garbrandt, then he’d break into the top five, and very few people in their careers break into the top five.”
O’Malley’s pro MMA record sits at a perfect 12-0. He’s coming off a highlight reel knockout over Eddie Wineland. It’s the “Sugar” show’s eighth win by way of knockout.
As for Garbrandt, he put a halt to his flyweight plans after knocking out Raphael Assuncao. “No Love” now aims to work his way back to the bantamweight title picture. Defeating Assuncao put Garbrandt back in the top five 135-pound rankings.
While Garbrandt vs. O’Malley probably won’t take place at this time, don’t rule it out in the future. If O’Malley ends up living up to the hype and Garbrandt continues to bounce back, we may very well be seeing “No Love” vs. “Sugar.”
Former UFC Bantamweight Champion Cody Garbrandt says he’s ready to “make a splash” in his flyweight debut at UFC 269 this weekend.
In 2016, Garbrandt was 11-0 as a professional, held the 135-pound title after a remarkable performance against Dominick Cruz, and looked set for a long reign on the throne. Fast forward five years and “No Love” finds himself 1-4 in his last five outings and firmly out of contention in a stacked bantamweight division.
With that in mind, the powerhouse is pursuing success in the fresh pastures of the flyweight weight class. He’ll look to show he has the speed to match the 125lbers and the same power as before when he faces Kai Kara-France this weekend at UFC 269.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CVG9r7ZP0NB/
Garbrandt Is Ready To Return To “Flow State”
Garbrandt was originally scheduled to move down last year to challenge for the title against former champion and current top contender Deiveson Figueiredo. After COVID-19 led to the bout’s cancelation, Garbrandt had one last hurrah at bantamweight in the form of a main event loss to Rob Font.
Now, the 30-year-old is ready to make an impact in a new environment. During an appearance at UFC 269 media day on Wednesday, Garbrandt discussed his decision to leave his old stomping ground and commit to a flyweight transition. Describing the switch as “inspired,” Garbrandt showed a newfound confidence in his first 125-pound fight week.
“We’ve been going back and forth on this, it’s been on my mind, I’m a doer. When I say I’m gonna do something, I’m gonna do it… It’s one of the best things I’ve done. I actually texted Dana (White) a couple weeks ago and was like, ‘I wish we would’ve done this a while ago…’ I’m inspired. I’m inspired for what’s about to take place on Saturday night. A new division, end of the year, great card, a good opponent, a worthy adversary; I’ve done everything I need to do to collect this win.”
The main discussion ahead of this weekend has surrounded whether or not Garbrandt’s famed speed and power will transition well to flyweight, a division known for fast-paced action. But “No Love” has zero concerns on that matter, and expects to “make a splash” on December 11.
“I feel like this is probably my more natural weight. I feel like a lot of the bantamweights are much larger. And I feel like that skillset, speed, power; I still have that at the division… I think anybody who steps inside that Octagon you have to respect. I just understand what’s gonna happen on Saturday night, and that’s why I’m excited… to pull from the past, I feel like this Saturday night will be a flow-state No Love… I’m here to make a splash in this division. I’m here to be a world champion. I’m here to be the best.”
Despite high-ranked contenders Askar Askarov and Alexandre Pantoja seemingly in line for future title shots, many, including Garbrandt himself, expect the former bantamweight champ to jump straight into the championship picture with a win this weekend. “No Love” even suggested he’d be willing to serve as backup for the trilogy fight between reigning king Brandon Moreno and Figueiredo at UFC 270 next month.
How do you think Cody Garbrandt’s flyweight debut will play out at UFC 269?
Cody Garbrandt is set to make his UFC flyweight debut and that has rejuvenated him of sorts.
Garbrandt, the former UFC bantamweight champ, has been on a bit of a skid as he’s 1-4 since winning the title, with three of the four losses coming by knockout. In his last fight, he fought Rob Font in a Fight Night main event which the former champ says didn’t motivate him. He also says that made him not train and prepare as the way he should’ve for a fight against a skilled opponent in Font.
“This fight, if you’re comparing it to my last fight, I came here and was like, ‘Yeah, I feel good, I feel ready to go,’ but I didn’t prepare the way that I should’ve prepared, you know, for a five-round fight. And that’s the word that I hate to use is motivated. I was not motivated,” Garbrandt said at media day.
“This fight camp I’ve been inspired. I’ve been inspired this whole entire camp because it’s to do something that a few people have done. Yes, I’ve been a world champion, I’m a former world champion in a previous weight division; that’s a small percentage of humans being able to have that title to their name,” Garbrandt continued. “But even a smaller percentage of going to a different division and being a world champion as well, so I’m inspired by myself, but also a lot of people around me, for what’s about to take place Saturday, and that’s just the start of it.”
At UFC 269, Cody Garbrandt is set to face the sixth-ranked flyweight, Kai Kara-France in a very intriguing matchup. Garbrandt has never been the biggest bantamweight and the flyweight move has always been talked about. If all goes well on Saturday night, the next time he fights could be for the flyweight strap.
Do you think Cody Garbrandt will beat Kai Kara-France at UFC 269?
