Former undisputed bantamweight champion, Cody Garbrandt has two in two straight victories for the first time since his 2016 championship coronation, face-plantting opponent, Brian Kelleher with a brutal opening round KO on the preliminary card of UFC 296 tonight in Las Vegas.
Garbrandt, a former undisputed bantamweight titleholder, most recently featured at UFC 285 back in March, snapping is disappointing losing skid with a one-sided unanimous decision win over Trevin Jones — showing off his often overlooked wrestling in the process.
And tonight against the returning, Kelleher, Ohio veteran, Garbrandt showed off his usual, lightning-quick blitzing style, wobbling the former on the feet midway through the opening round.
And rushing forward, although more composed than we’ve seen him in the past, Garbrandt laid out Kelleher with a picture-perfect right hand hook, dropping the former face first to the Octagon canvas.
Following his knockout win over Kelleher, Garbrandt called for a return to the Octagon in March or April of next year against recent divisional mover and former undisputed flyweight champion, Deiveson Figueiredo.
Below, catch the highlights from Cody Garbrandt’s win at UFC 296
CODY GARBRANDT KNOCKS OUT BRIAN KELLEHER
@Cody_NoLove gets the first round finish at #UFC296! pic.twitter.com/yx3KipGWgt
— UFC (@ufc) December 17, 2023
