Back at UFC 202, Cody Garbrandt put his record and standing in the UFC’s bantamweight division on the line against Takeya Mizugaki in a meeting of contenders.
In short order, the 25-yea…
Back at UFC 202, Cody Garbrandt put his record and standing in the UFC’s bantamweight division on the line against Takeya Mizugaki in a meeting of contenders.
In short order, the 25-year-old Garbrandt proved why he just might be the future of the 135-pound division, taking out Mizugaki and moving into a meeting with champion Dominick Cruz at UFC 207.
Garbrandt and Cruz will square off December 30 in the co-main event of UFC 207 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Garbrandt, a member of Team Alpha Male, will try to do what mentor Urijah Faber was unable to do in taking the strap off “The Dominator.”
Check out a complete fight replay off the Garbrandt-Mizugaki contest in the video above.
Ahead of their showdown for the UFC Bantamweight Championship in the co-main event of this month’s mega-UFC 207 pay-per-view event in Las Vegas, Nevada, reigning champion Dominick Cruz and Team Alpha Male representative …
https://youtu.be/N1IuWp5r8ns
Ahead of their showdown for the UFC Bantamweight Championship in the co-main event of this month’s mega-UFC 207 pay-per-view event in Las Vegas, Nevada, reigning champion Dominick Cruz and Team Alpha Male representative Cody “No Love” Garbrandt were featured on the UFC On FOX 22 broadcast on Saturday night.
Featured above is their spirited back-and-forth, which took place during their live split-screen interview during the broadcast on FOX on Saturday night.
Cruz-Garbrandt joins the headline attraction of Ronda Rousey vs. Amanda Nunes for the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship of the December 30th UFC 207: Nunes vs. Rousey event at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Join us here at MMANews.com on 12/30 for live round-by-round results coverage of the UFC 207 pay-per-view.
Urijah Faber will conclude his legendary MMA career inside the Octagon this Saturday night against Brad Pickett as part of UFC on FOX 22.
The setting is an ideal one for “The California Kid,” as he’ll meet an opponent he is favored over in his hometown of Sacramento.
But for Faber, he is trying to just treat it like any other fight.
“I haven’t given too much thought about retirement,” he said during a recent interview with Submission Radio. “I’m more of like living in the moment kind of guy. But I feel like the time is right. I know that it’s something that I love to do, but it hasn’t been evoking the same type of emotion as it has in the past. The ups and downs and everything involved is just a little bit different. I still feel real fortunate to be able to work out every day and make a living doing the things that I love. But in all honesty, if I didn’t set a time and say, OK, this is gonna be it, I would’ve just kept on fighting and kept on fighting.
“Because it doesn’t scare me, it’s a nice way to make a buck, I enjoy the process. But I feel fortunate to have my wits about me. I feel fortunate to have my body functioning and feel like I’m in good health, and I just feel like it’s time to be able to focus on some other things and end on a good note.”
Faber, 37 years old, has dropped two straight and three of his last four. He once again competed for UFC gold this past June, falling to Dominick Cruz for the bantamweight title.
Cruz will meet Cody Garbrandt, a prized prospect who trains at Team Alpha Male with Faber, later this month for the belt at UFC 207.
“The most dangerous part about Cruz is he’s able to frustrate guys. And what I’ve seen from Cody, unlike guys like TJ Dillashaw – I’ve seen TJ from the very beginning of his career, up until him being in the gym as a champion and preparing to defend the title, and TJ is the worst when he’s frustrated – Cody Garbrandt is better when he’s frustrated,” Faber said. “He’s got a boxing pedigree and a wrestling pedigree that is unmatched within our sport. I mean, he’s a guy that’s had a lot of success as a kid as a wrestler, as a high school wrestler, and then just transferred right into Mixed Martial Arts. And he’s been boxing since he was a little kid. So the frustration that happens when you fight a guy like Cruz, it makes some guys worse and makes some guys better. And for Cody, it’s going to make him better and it’s going to be a bad night for Cruz.”
Urijah Faber will conclude his legendary MMA career inside the Octagon this Saturday night against Brad Pickett as part of UFC on FOX 22.
The setting is an ideal one for “The California Kid,” as he’ll meet an opponent he is favored over in his hometown of Sacramento.
But for Faber, he is trying to just treat it like any other fight.
“I haven’t given too much thought about retirement,” he said during a recent interview with Submission Radio. “I’m more of like living in the moment kind of guy. But I feel like the time is right. I know that it’s something that I love to do, but it hasn’t been evoking the same type of emotion as it has in the past. The ups and downs and everything involved is just a little bit different. I still feel real fortunate to be able to work out every day and make a living doing the things that I love. But in all honesty, if I didn’t set a time and say, OK, this is gonna be it, I would’ve just kept on fighting and kept on fighting.
“Because it doesn’t scare me, it’s a nice way to make a buck, I enjoy the process. But I feel fortunate to have my wits about me. I feel fortunate to have my body functioning and feel like I’m in good health, and I just feel like it’s time to be able to focus on some other things and end on a good note.”
Faber, 37 years old, has dropped two straight and three of his last four. He once again competed for UFC gold this past June, falling to Dominick Cruz for the bantamweight title.
Cruz will meet Cody Garbrandt, a prized prospect who trains at Team Alpha Male with Faber, later this month for the belt at UFC 207.
“The most dangerous part about Cruz is he’s able to frustrate guys. And what I’ve seen from Cody, unlike guys like TJ Dillashaw – I’ve seen TJ from the very beginning of his career, up until him being in the gym as a champion and preparing to defend the title, and TJ is the worst when he’s frustrated – Cody Garbrandt is better when he’s frustrated,” Faber said. “He’s got a boxing pedigree and a wrestling pedigree that is unmatched within our sport. I mean, he’s a guy that’s had a lot of success as a kid as a wrestler, as a high school wrestler, and then just transferred right into Mixed Martial Arts. And he’s been boxing since he was a little kid. So the frustration that happens when you fight a guy like Cruz, it makes some guys worse and makes some guys better. And for Cody, it’s going to make him better and it’s going to be a bad night for Cruz.”
Dominick Cruz will look to add No. 5-ranked Cody Garbrandt to his list of current and former Team Alpha Male victims when he meets “No Love” in the co-main event of December 30’s UFC 207 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, and as usual, the cerebral assassin isn’t giving his heavy-handed opponent much respect.
Dominick Cruz will look to add No. 5-ranked Cody Garbrandt to his list of current and former Team Alpha Male victims when he meets “No Love” in the co-main event of December 30’s UFC 207 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, and as usual, the cerebral assassin isn’t giving his heavy-handed opponent much respect.
Many in the MMA world are enamored with Garbrandt’s scary, fight-stopping power – a rarity for the 135-pound ranks and a skill “The Dominator” has indeed never displayed during his brilliant career. Yet while “No Love’s” four show-stopping knockouts in five wins since joining the UFC in 2015 will get fans talking, Cruz spoke up on today’s “The MMA Hour” (quotes via MMA Mania) to state his belief that Garbrandt isn’t a top-ranked fighter but simply talked his way into a big fight:
“We’re in the fight business and this is a fight, plain and simple. He isn’t in the top five of the division, and it’s my job to go out there and prove it.
“He did talk himself into this fight, 100 percent. It’s my job to go out there and fight him. I want to fight him, I want to fight this man because it sparks interests and there is a beef there. This guy has been running his mouth a lot. So it’s my job to go out there and shut it for him and show him why he is nowhere near the level he thinks he is.”
Since returning from an almost four-year layoff due to multiple surgeries, Cruz has ramped his rivalry up with Team Alpha Male and their fighters to never-before-seen heights. He beat former TAM flagship member TJ Dillashaw by decision to win back his belt last January, and he followed it up by badly outclassing founder Urijah Faber at UFC 199.
He’s now matched up with Alpha Male’s latest (and some would say greatest) hope to beat the Alliance MMA champion in Garbrandt, who’s made knocking out some of the world’s top bantamweights looking easy. If Cruz is known for one thing, however, it’s not getting hit, making his upcoming showdown with Garbrandt one of the most interesting styles clashes the still-developing UFC 135-pound landscape has ever seen.
Earlier last month it was announced that longtime bantamweight king Dominick Cruz’s next challenger inside the Octagon would come in the form of the heavy-handed Cody ‘No Love’ Garbrandt. Garbrandt is currently undefeated in his mixed martial arts (MMA) career finishing all but one of his bouts via knockout, with his most recent victory coming via
Earlier last month it was announced that longtime bantamweight king Dominick Cruz’s next challenger inside the Octagon would come in the form of the heavy-handed Cody ‘No Love’ Garbrandt.
Garbrandt is currently undefeated in his mixed martial arts (MMA) career finishing all but one of his bouts via knockout, with his most recent victory coming via R1 knockout over Takeya Mizugaki.
Cruz is one of the most dominant champions in UFC history, having lost only one bout in his MMA career in his WEC debut against Urijah Faber in 2007. Cruz faced a slew of injuries that kept him outside of the cage, forcing him to vacate his bantamweight crown, helplessly watching former Team Alpha Male member TJ Dillashaw run the 135-pound show from the sidelines in the process.
‘The Dominator’ finally healed up enough to do battle with Dillashaw for the title, where Cruz took home a split decision victory in a razor close battle of technical skills. Since that fight each man has faced different foes inside the Octagon, with Dillashaw easily out-classing Raphael Assuncao in their three round contest at UFC 200; and Cruz doing the same to longtime rival Urijah Faber in the co-main event of UFC 199.
With both men coming off dominant wins it seemed as though you could all but pencil in Cruz vs. Dillashaw II for the next bantamweight title clash, but with the bad blood steadily beginning to boil between Cruz and Garbrandt over the past few months, the UFC decided to go a different route.
Understandably the news didn’t sit too well with Dillashaw, who spoke to FanSided after news broke, and called the UFC’s latest bantamweight title match pairing a ‘mockery’ of the sport:
“It’s a mockery – it’s a mockery of the sport. The sport should be about the best guys on the planet (fighting each other). What’s the point of having rankings (if they don’t factor into matchups)?” Dillashaw said.
Dillashaw’s coach Duane ‘Bang’ Ludwig also voiced his displeasure with his fighter being side-stepped for what believes is rightfully his title opportunity, during a recent interview on BJ Penn.com Radio, stating that he believes Cruz’s decision to take on Garbrandt instead of Dillashaw means he doesn’t want to fight the Elevation Fight Team member:
“We’re really bummed out because it basically just proves the fact that Cruz doesn’t want to fight TJ,” Ludwig said. “I mean TJ fought Raphael Assuncao, the number two ranked guy, and it wasn’t an easy fight, but he went through him pretty easily. He stuck to the game plan.”
“We beat the number two (ranked) guy, on paper we should have gotten the immediate rematch after the Cruz fight (given how close the fight was), but we go and beat the number two guy, we should have gotten the rematch (with Cruz), so now we’re asking to fight (John) Lineker who’s the number three guy to continue to prove the fact that TJ is a world champion.”
Ludwig also believes that the decision speaks volumes about the new UFC owner Ari Emmanuel, who ‘Bang’ accuses of being a big fan of Cruz:
“I haven’t even met the new owner, Ari (Emmanuel), but he must be a Cruz fan for sure. I mean look at the fights they’re giving him. They must really love Cruz.”
With Cruz now being booked against Garbrandt, it should be interesting to see if Dillashaw will take center Octagon once again before competing for the title once more, or if he will simply rest and observe who emerges victorious from the 135-pound title bout at UFC 207 in December.
Reigning UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz is set to defend his title at December 30’s UFC 207 against hard-hitting No. 6-ranked Cody “No Love” Garbrandt, a man who holds an undefeated professional record with his last three victories coming by way of T/KO. Garbrandt’s devastating power undoubtedly gives a him a chance in this fight,
Reigning UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz is set to defend his title at December 30’s UFC 207 against hard-hitting No. 6-ranked Cody “No Love” Garbrandt, a man who holds an undefeated professional record with his last three victories coming by way of T/KO.
Garbrandt’s devastating power undoubtedly gives a him a chance in this fight, and he feels as if he’ll be the man to dethrone “The Dominator”, although Cruz obviously has different feelings on the matter:
“That’s his take on it and if you hear him, he’s not the most intelligent guy in the world,” Cruz told TMZ just recently (Via FOX Sports). “So there’s two ways to go about this sport. There’s taking the damage, taking the chances, walking into the center and being willing to take punches in order to give punches.
“Then there’s me, where I’m going to put myself in the smallest ratio of taking damage, that way I can use my brain and continue to beat you down, round after round, pick you apart, take as minimal amount of damage as I can while I just beat you up.”
Cruz, who many consider to be the very best bantamweight of all-time, uses a style that incorporates unique movement and footwork in a way that allows him to take very little damage. Some have criticized him of running or point fighting, but “The Dominator” is typically able to avoid big shots, while striking his opponent from different angles.
He plans to do just that against “No Love”, adding in that he’s going to make Garbrandt look ‘silly’:
“I’m going to mix it up, keep you guessing so much that at the end of it, you’re going to just wish that I would put you out of your misery,” Cruz said. “I’m just going to keep tagging you up and making you look silly.
“Step by step, minute by minute, round by round, until you beg me to stop you.”
Who do you expect to walk away with 135-pound gold in December?
Ludwig also believes that the decision speaks volumes about the new UFC owner Ari Emmanuel, who ‘Bang’ accuses of being a big fan of Cruz: