When MMANews.com’s Tim Thompson interviewed Jimmie Rivera earlier this month, the No. 6 ranked featherweight made it clear he is done fiddling around in the division. Rivera took aim at the current 135-pound champion Cody Garbrandt and Dominick Cruz. A couple of weeks have gone by and Rivera’s tone has not changed. Speaking with Olimpio […]
When MMANews.com’s Tim Thompson interviewed Jimmie Rivera earlier this month, the No. 6 ranked featherweight made it clear he is done fiddling around in the division. Rivera took aim at the current 135-pound champion Cody Garbrandt and Dominick Cruz. A couple of weeks have gone by and Rivera’s tone has not changed. Speaking with Olimpio […]
Dominick Cruz is coming off of his first mixed martial arts (MMA) loss in almost a decade, when 25-year-old knockout artist Cody Garbrandt shook up the 135-pound weight class by out-classing ‘The Dominator’ for 25 minutes and capturing the division’s crown. The defeat marks only the second notch in Cruz’s loss column, where his first came
Dominick Cruz is coming off of his first mixed martial arts (MMA) loss in almost a decade, when 25-year-old knockout artist Cody Garbrandt shook up the 135-pound weight class by out-classing ‘The Dominator’ for 25 minutes and capturing the division’s crown.
The defeat marks only the second notch in Cruz’s loss column, where his first came at the hands of Garbrandt’s coach and mentor, Urijah Faber, who submitted the now-former bantamweight champ back in 2007 during his WEC debut. After two follow-up attempts to get the job done one more time in the UFC proved unsuccessful, Faber was able to groom and mold ‘No Love’ to give Team Alpha Male its first victory over Cruz.
Following his historic win Garbrandt instantly started laying the foundation for an immediate rematch with Cruz, brushing off former teammate and No. 2-ranked TJ Dillashaw’s claim to the next shot at the title.
Cruz recently co-hosted TMZ Sports (via MMA Fighting) and discussed Garbrandt’s desire to promptly rematch him, to which the Alliance MMA product stated ‘No Love’ is pushing for the bout because he knows it’s the only fight that ‘raises the bar’ in the 135-pound division:
“I expect him to be mad at me from that camp. I embarrassed him pretty good leading up to it with the things that I said which where the honest truth and he proved they were the truth by getting mad. But more than anything he keeps saying, ‘I’m at the top’ and ‘rematch, rematch.’ You’ve got the title. Why are you asking to rematch me?
“He knows that I am better than him. He wants the rematch because I’m the only fight that really raises the bar in this division.”
LAS VEGAS, NV – DECEMBER 30: (R-L) Cody Garbrandt punches Dominick Cruz in their UFC bantamweight championship bout during the UFC 207 event at T-Mobile Arena on December 30, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Throughout the course of the match-up Garbrandt continued to mock Cruz by dancing, sticking his tongue out, and even dropping down to the canvas for a quick push-up before bouncing back up and resuming to fight. While fans in attendance and watching at home on pay-per-view (PPV) may have enjoyed Garbrandt’s shenanigans, Cruz isn’t too big of a fan:
“If you’re in there to fight me fight me. Don’t back up the whole time and dance… He’s trying to portray that he’s this tough guy that wanted it to go that long.”
It is expected that Cruz will take some time off before returning to Octagon action once again, but one thing is for sure to him — Upon his return he will be competing for the title once again, but as for his opponent, he isn’t 100 percent sure it’ll be Garbrandt standing across from him:
“Whenever I come back, I’m fighting for the title. I don’t know who it’s gonna be though.”
“It was a good fight. It was competitive the whole time. I’m out there to put a show on. that team alone has 35 rounds against me. It was about time they got one.”
You can check out Cruz’s interview with TMZ Sports here:
In the recent release, the contrast of celebration and desolation work emphatically on film. The defending champion [Nunes] celebrates with joy as her family hug and cheer in the crowd. “The Lioness” then storms back stage after her win, telling all that ‘Ronda Rousey is done’, before ceremoniously popping a bottle of champagne. Opposingly, Rousey’s trainer [Edmond Tarverdyan] and her mother and sisters struggle to contain themselves.
The video also highlights Garbrandt’s reactions to his title win, with tears all round as his Alpha Male teammates (including Urijah Faber) take in the magnificence of his victory.
The full video is available for UFC Fight Pass subscribers, but you can watch the preview clip below:
https://youtu.be/IDY-hGNY7_k
Watch the stunned reaction of Ronda Rousey’s corner and the tears of joy in new bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt in the post-UFC 207 release.
In the recent release, the contrast of celebration and desolation work emphatically on film. The defending champion [Nunes] celebrates with joy as her family hug and cheer in the crowd. “The Lioness” then storms back stage after her win, telling all that ‘Ronda Rousey is done’, before ceremoniously popping a bottle of champagne. Opposingly, Rousey’s trainer [Edmond Tarverdyan] and her mother and sisters struggle to contain themselves.
The video also highlights Garbrandt’s reactions to his title win, with tears all round as his Alpha Male teammates (including Urijah Faber) take in the magnificence of his victory.
The full video is available for UFC Fight Pass subscribers, but you can watch the preview clip below:
Newly crowned UFC bantamweight champ Cody ‘No Love’ Garbrandt shook up the mixed martial arts (MMA) world last month (Friday, December 30, 2016), when he handily defeated longtime reigning 135-pound king Dominick Cruz in the co-main event of UFC 207. Garbrandt became the first man to defeat Cruz in almost a decade, since ‘No Love’s’
Newly crowned UFC bantamweight champ Cody ‘No Love’ Garbrandt shook up the mixed martial arts (MMA) world last month (Friday, December 30, 2016), when he handily defeated longtime reigning 135-pound king Dominick Cruz in the co-main event of UFC 207.
Garbrandt became the first man to defeat Cruz in almost a decade, since ‘No Love’s’ coach and mentor Urijah Faber handed ‘The Dominator’ his then-first and only career loss via guillotine choke in 2007 during Cruz’s WEC debut. With the win Garbrandt becomes the fourth ever UFC bantamweight champion, and picked up a huge target on his back in the process.
Although the spotlight may have been fixated on Garbrandt that night in Vegas, another former 135-pound champion also put on a masterful performance of his own and made quite the case to get the next crack at the division’s title. That man’s name is TJ Dillashaw.
Dillashaw reigned as champion of the 135-pound weight class for years while Cruz was out-of-action nursing injuries, and lost his title to the returning ‘Dominator’ in their January clash via split decision. After now two back-to-back decisive victories over names such as Raphael Assuncao and John Lineker, Dillashaw believes he’s next in line to challenge the new bantamweight champ for his throne.
Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
During a recent interview with MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, Garbrandt discussed the possibility of defending his title against his former teammate Dillashaw next, an idea that isn’t too appealing to ‘No Love’ who believes Dillashaw isn’t a big pay-per-view (PPV) number draw:
“Like I said, I went for the title shot…it was a two man race,” he said. ?“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.
“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.”
What are your thoughts? Are Garbrandt’s explanations for not wanting to step into the Octagon with Dillashaw justified? How possible is a contest between Jose Aldo and Garbrandt at 145 pounds? And who do you want to see ‘No Love’ throw-down with next?
Ten days ago, Cody Garbrandt looked like a lost cause.
Garbrandt had been so verbally destroyed by UFC men’s bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz leading up to their title bout at UFC 207 that many spectators were ready to award Cruz a TKO win via…
Ten days ago, Cody Garbrandt looked like a lost cause.
Garbrandt had been so verbally destroyed by UFC men’s bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz leading up to their title bout at UFC 207 that many spectators were ready to award Cruz a TKO win via tongue-lashing.
Cruz also preemptively declared victory, claiming his inexperienced challenger was mentally broken.
Then the fight started, and Garbrandt dominated nearly every phase of it.
He beat Cruz to the punch with his superior speed and power, several times coming close to scoring a KO. The champion’s normally elusive style was rendered plodding and ineffective by Garbrandt’s agility and footwork. Perhaps most surprising, he stuffed seven takedown attempts, short-circuiting Cruz’s well-worn strategy of stealing rounds with late bursts of wrestling.
Before Garbrandt’s unanimous-decision win was even announced to the crowd at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, the same people who had once been so sure of his defeat were assessing the 25-year-old Team Alpha Male fighter with fresh eyes.
And he suddenly looked like the future.
After two years of unprecedented turnover at the championship level of nearly every UFC weight class, the fight company finds itself in dire need of star power to begin 2017. Ronda Rousey is gone, maybe for good. Conor McGregor is out on extended R and R. Jon Jones is suspended until July.
While it’s unlikely that Garbrandt will rocket to superstar status on the basis of his championship victory over Cruz, the performance has him shaping up as one of the new young guns the UFC might use to bridge the gap until McGregor and Jones return.
With his ostentatious collection of tattoos and punch-first, ask-questions-later mentality, Garbrandt certainly looks like a badass straight out of central casting. The earliest indications are that he also understands how to play the promotional part of the fight game.
It’s largely assumed former champion TJ Dillashaw will be Garbrandt’s first test as titlist, after Dillashaw sprinted past John Lineker via unanimous decision in a bantamweight contender fight at UFC 207.
Dillashaw and Garbrandt were once teammates at Team Alpha Male in Sacramento, California. After Dillashaw left the team amid some fireworks in October 2015, a potential bout between them would come preloaded with beef.
Garbrandt already had some very NSFW things to say about Dillashaw inside the cage after defeating Cruz.
“Now I’m the best in the world, so anyone can come get it,” Garbrandt said. “TJ Dillashaw, come try me, motherf—er.”
But following UFC 207, Garbrandt has not limited his attentions solely to Dillashaw. He’s also set his sights on two much bigger fish—Jose Aldo and McGregor himself.
Garbrandt said Monday on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani he’d be willing to move up in weight to take on either the featherweight or the lightweight champ.
“I need to sit down with [UFC President] Dana [White] and Sean [Shelby], and find out the biggest money fight for me,” he said, via MMA Fighting.com’s Chuck Mindenhall. “I know I could go up and fight with Jose Aldo. He has wins over my teammates, he’s a legend, and I’d like to test his chin. I know I hit hard, and I’m just getting started. And I could also have the biggest fight with Conor [McGregor]. I could easily go up.”
Now, those are a couple of interesting—if perhaps far-fetched—ideas.
One fun fact about McGregor and Garbrandt often lost in the hurricane of the Irishman’s fame: The two had a brief physical confrontation during the filming of The Ultimate Fighter season 22.
That season pitted McGregor opposite Team Alpha Male’s Urijah Faber as head coaches. Garbrandt came along as one of Faber’s assistants and at one point played a key role in escalating a skirmish between the two teams—ironically over Dillashaw’s loyalty to Team Alpha Male—by springing out of his seat and shoving McGregor:
Granted, a few minutes of reality television footage isn’t enough to promote a fight between Garbrandt and McGregor, but it would make for an interesting side note. Against Cruz, Garbrandt proved he’s not likely to wilt under the bright lights of a high-profile matchup, nor would he let McGregor’s own vaunted brand of trash talk throw him off his game.
Though he’d surely give up some size to the current 155-pound champ, Garbrandt’s athletic, heavy-handed fighting style might make for an interesting matchup of styles against the southpaw slugger McGregor.
If anything, the thought of a fight between the two smacks of fantasy only because McGregor will have bigger foes to topple if and when he returns from his extended paternity leave near the middle of this year.
Aldo might present a slightly more realistic opportunity for Garbrandt to score a big-money superfight, but obstacles exist there, too.
For one thing, there’s still a backlog of contenders at 145 pounds after McGregor bolted the division for greener pastures during 2016. Last month, the UFC even resorted to putting an interim title on Max Holloway after he defeated Anthony Pettis at UFC 206.
In other words, there’s a lot of divisional business that needs to be done before Aldo starts thinking about entertaining offers from champions in other weight divisions. Then again, the trajectory of the UFC under new owners from WME-IMG points to more entertainment, more money and less worrying about rankings or the divisional status quo.
Were UFC brass to feel it could make more money with Aldo vs. Garbrandt than with any other available matchup, that’s certainly the one it’d make. Like McGregor, it would also provide a compelling matchup of styles between two powerful strikers.
If nothing else, as its newest champion, it’s clear Garbrandt gets the new direction of the UFC.
He’s already proved himself a better fighter and a bigger promotional asset than we might have thought a bit more than a week ago.
Ego. It’s something I tell my fighters never to have. It’s helpful in its ability to push through pain, to overcome fear and doubt, telling yourself that you belong in the ring or cage. But as useful as it can be, it’s something impossible to fully control. Some say that “ego is the fuel a fighter needs to get to the top.” Still, I say it’s useless. “If you want to knock a man out, you don’t look for it. You allow it to happen.” Training camp after training camp this is the motto that is instilled into my fighters. It’s exactly the approach Dominick Cruz has followed for his entire career. That is, until UFC 207.
Ego. It’s something I tell my fighters never to have. It’s helpful in its ability to push through pain, to overcome fear and doubt, telling yourself that you belong in the ring or cage. But as useful as it can be, it’s something impossible to fully control. Some say that “ego is the fuel a fighter needs to get to the top.” Still, I say it’s useless. “If you want to knock a man out, you don’t look for it. You allow it to happen.” Training camp after training camp this is the motto that is instilled into my fighters. It’s exactly the approach Dominick Cruz has followed for his entire career. That is, until UFC 207.
Don’t be fooled, having a big ego can be a great thing. It can influence naysayers, turn enemies to friends, and even thrust individuals into positions of power like our president-elect. However, the one place where it shouldn’t be present is during a fist fight.
We can get into the whole nature of fighting from a primal angle, that ego and pride and passion are all intertwined when it comes to competing against another human being, to see who is the better combatant. In prize fighting however, there’s no place for it. Why? Because in the haze of combat there are too many variables to keep track of, too many outcomes to even the slightest mistake. Relying on your ego during a fist fight, perhaps the most high risk circumstance a person can find themselves in, can prove to be fighters undoing. For Dominick Cruz it’s a lesson that he had to learn the hard way.
In the co-main event of UFC 207 we got to see Cody Garbrandt rise to the occasion. It’s interesting to note that the challenger had a tremendous ego all his own leading into the fight. When interviewed by the press Garbrandt’s simple reply was that he would knock the champion out. Things didn’t quite turn out as he expected, yet his prideful boasts was something that he thrived on. For Dominick Cruz however, it was nothing but hubris. It must be noted that Cruz has been one of my favorite fighters simply for the fact that he never played into his opponent’s game. Rather than get swept up in the moment, look to trade leather and risk it all, he would always choose to take precaution and play to his strengths. Staying on the outside, being unpredictable, these are the qualities that make Dominick Cruz a cut above the rest.
Standing toe to toe with an opponent has never been what made Cruz great. He was superior because he wasn’t like those other “sluggers” who decide to stay in the pocket a trade blows. Cruz has been all about being elusive, making fighters miss, then making them pay. The Dominick Cruz that battled Cody Garbrandt for the bantamweight belt was not the same man we saw out dueling TJ Dillashaw in January. Instead we saw a man willing to trade blows, willing to stay in the pocket and trade leather. In other words, an ordinary fighter.
Cody Garbrandt on the other hand proved that ego can in fact sharpen a fighter’s skills. Rather than rush forward and look for the finish, Garbrandt instead fought a patient and balanced fight. Despite the fact that he’d been campaigning for a knock out for weeks before their fight, Garbrandt showed more maturity than he led on. With the raw power in his favor he didn’t have to look for the knock out and simply waited for his moments to shine. Cody slipped, he ripped, and he made Cruz pay for every time he remained in the pocket.
Dominick Cruz endeavored to knock the challenger out, something completely uncharacteristic of the bantamweight king. He believed Cody was emotionally invested in the bout, that the young gun would fold under the pressure. But you can’t help but feel that the now former bantamweight champion fell prey to the very ideology that he accused the young Garbrandt of possessing. Ego and pride may get you to the top. It may even keep you there. But as the old saying goes, pride goes before the fall.
Dominick Cruz was a great champion, a true inspiration. To come back from three ACL surgeries and once again capture UFC gold took pride. It took ego. But it also took humility. It was hard to watch such an intelligent fighter like Cruz throw caution to the wind and stand in front of Garbrandt hoping to test his mettle. Ego returned Cruz to the throne yet it also caused his downfall. It will be that same unruly mistress that will get him back to the top of the mountain. I still think ego is useless come fight time. But it is ego that will carry Cruz back to the top of the mountain. Like it or not, it’s a balancing act that can be the difference between glory and defeat.
Jonathan Salmon is a writer, martial arts instructor, and geek culture enthusiast. Check out his Twitter and Facebook to keep up with his antics.
Ten days ago, Cody Garbrandt looked like a lost cause.