Tag: Mandalay Bay

UFC Rankings Report: Cody Garbrandt Storms Onto Top 10 In Wild Shakeup

Last Sunday’s (May 29, 2016) UFC Fight Night 88 from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, provided a massive shakeup in the bantamweight division that was largely spurred by previously unranked Cody Garbrandt’s thunderous first-round knockout over the previously undefeated (and heavily hyped) Thomas Almeida. The end result was a switch-up of

The post UFC Rankings Report: Cody Garbrandt Storms Onto Top 10 In Wild Shakeup appeared first on LowKick MMA.

Last Sunday’s (May 29, 2016) UFC Fight Night 88 from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, provided a massive shakeup in the bantamweight division that was largely spurred by previously unranked Cody Garbrandt’s thunderous first-round knockout over the previously undefeated (and heavily hyped) Thomas Almeida.

The end result was a switch-up of a lofty 12 of the 15 spots on the official bantamweight rankings list. Garbrandt came bull-rushing into the Top 10 at No. 7, sending Almeida from that exact spot down to No. 9. The second-most noteworthy move up the rankings was Bryan Caraway’s debut at the No. 4 spot that he stole by coming from behind to beat another highly hyped prospect in Aljamain Sterling, who went down to No. 6 as a result.

Aside from the 135-pounders that fought at UFC Fight Night 88, the top of the division saw its own shakeup as well. Raphael Assuncao, who will return from a significant ankle injury to take on former champion TJ Dillashaw at July 9’s UFC 200, moved up two spots from No. 5 to No. 3 without fighting.

Urijah Faber, who will take on champion Dominick Cruz in the co-main event of this weekend’s (sat., June 4, 2016) UFC 199 from Inglewood, California, rose one spot up to No. 2, while Michael McDonald did the same to land at the No. 5. Rounding out the bantamweight division’s near overhaul, returnee John Dodson moved up two spots to No. 8, while John Lineker rose two spots to sit tied with Almeida at No. 9.

In other significant movement, welterweight champion Robbie Lawler overtook lightweight champ Rafael dos Anjos for the No. 5 spot on the pound-for-pound ranks.

The only division that saw any significant changes was welterweight, where Rick Story rose up one spot to No. 10 after a decision win over Tarec Saffiedine, who fell three spots to No. 13 and allowed Gunnar Nelson and Kelvin Gastelum to move up one spot apiece to Nos. 12 and 13, respectively.

At women’s bantamweight, Jessica Eye dropped three spots to No. 10 after her one-sided decision loss to Sara McMann, which allowed Raqual Pennington to move up a spot to No. 9, and Valentina Shevchenko moved up two spots to No. 7 heading into her huge main event against Holly Holm on July 23.

Here are the fully updated rankings courtesy of UFC.com:

POUND-FOR-POUND
1 Jon Jones
2 Demetrious Johnson
3 Luke Rockhold
4 Dominick Cruz
5 Robbie Lawler
6 Rafael Dos Anjos
7 Conor McGregor
8 Daniel Cormier
9 Jose Aldo
10 Chris Weidman
11 Frankie Edgar
12 Joanna Jedrzejczyk
13 Stipe Miocic
14 TJ Dillashaw
15 Fabricio Werdum

FLYWEIGHT
Champion : Demetrious Johnson
1 Joseph Benavidez
2 Henry Cejudo
3 Jussier Formiga
4 Kyoji Horiguchi
5 Ian McCall
6 John Moraga
7 Zach Makovsky
8 Wilson Reis
9 Dustin Ortiz
10 Ali Bagautinov
11 Justin Scoggins
12 Louis Smolka
13 Ray Borg
14 Sergio Pettis
15 Ben Nguyen

BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion : Dominick Cruz
1 TJ Dillashaw
2 Urijah Faber
3 Raphael Assuncao
4 Bryan Caraway
5 Michael McDonald
6 Aljamain Sterling
7 Cody Garbrandt *NR
8 John Dodson
9 Thomas Almeida
9 John Lineker
11 Takeya Mizugaki
12 Frankie Saenz
13 Johnny Eduardo
14 Jimmie Rivera
15 Eddie Wineland

FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion : Conor McGregor
1 Jose Aldo
2 Frankie Edgar
3 Chad Mendes
4 Max Holloway
5 Ricardo Lamas
6 Cub Swanson
7 Charles Oliveira
8 Jeremy Stephens
9 Dennis Bermudez
10 Hacran Dias
11 Darren Elkins
12 Brian Ortega
13 Tatsuya Kawajiri
14 Yair Rodriguez
15 Mirsad Bektic

LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion : Rafael Dos Anjos
1 Khabib Nurmagomedov
2 Eddie Alvarez
3 Tony Ferguson
4 Donald Cerrone
5 Nate Diaz
6 Edson Barboza
7 Anthony Pettis
8 Michael Johnson
9 Michael Chiesa
10 Beneil Dariush
11 Dustin Poirier
12 Al Iaquinta
13 Bobby Green
14 Rashid Magomedov
15 Evan Dunham

WELTERWEIGHT
Champion : Robbie Lawler
1 Rory MacDonald
2 Stephen Thompson
3 Tyron Woodley
4 Demian Maia
5 Carlos Condit
6 Johny Hendricks
7 Neil Magny
8 Matt Brown
9 Dong Hyun Kim
10 Rick Story
11 Gunnar Nelson
12 Kelvin Gastelum
13 Tarec Saffiedine
14 Hector Lombard
15 Thiago Alves
MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion : Luke Rockhold
1 Chris Weidman
2 Jacare Souza
3 Vitor Belfort
4 Michael Bisping
5 Anderson Silva
6 Robert Whittaker
7 Lyoto Machida
8 Gegard Mousasi
9 Tim Kennedy
10 Uriah Hall
11 Derek Brunson
12 Thales Leites
13 Rafael Natal
14 Thiago Santos
15 Dan Henderson

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion : Daniel Cormier
1 Jon Jones (Interim Champion)
2 Anthony Johnson
3 Glover Teixeira
4 Alexander Gustafsson
5 Ryan Bader
6 Ovince Saint Preux
7 Mauricio Rua
8 Rashad Evans
9 Jimi Manuwa
10 Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
11 Nikita Krylov
12 Corey Anderson
13 Ilir Latifi
14 Patrick Cummins
15 Gian Villante

HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion : Stipe Miocic
1 Fabricio Werdum
2 Cain Velasquez
3 Alistair Overeem
4 Junior Dos Santos
5 Ben Rothwell
6 Andrei Arlovski
7 Travis Browne
8 Mark Hunt
9 Josh Barnett
10 Roy Nelson
11 Derrick Lewis
12 Frank Mir
13 Stefan Struve
14 Ruslan Magomedov
15 Alexey Oliynyk

WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion : Joanna Jedrzejczyk
1 Claudia Gadelha
2 Carla Esparza
3 Rose Namajunas
4 Tecia Torres
5 Valerie Letourneau
6 Jessica Penne
7 Karolina Kowalkiewicz
8 Paige VanZant
9 Maryna Moroz
10 Michelle Waterson
11 Joanne Calderwood
12 Randa Markos
13 Jessica Aguilar
14 Juliana Lima
15 Justine Kish

WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion : Miesha Tate
1 Holly Holm
2 Ronda Rousey
3 Cat Zingano
4 Amanda Nunes
5 Julianna Pena
6 Sara McMann
7 Valentina Shevchenko
8 Liz Carmouche
9 Raquel Pennington
10 Jessica Eye
11 Bethe Correia
12 Germaine de Randamie
13 Lauren Murphy
14 Ashlee Evans-Smith
15 Marion Reneau

The post UFC Rankings Report: Cody Garbrandt Storms Onto Top 10 In Wild Shakeup appeared first on LowKick MMA.

Cody Garbrandt: First Off, I Deserve Some Respect

It’s a vast understatement to say that Cody Garbrandt merely made a big impact on the UFC bantamweight landscape by knocking out Thomas Almeida in the main event of last night’s (Sun., May 29, 2016) UFC Fight Night 88 from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Garbrandt not only beat the previously No. 7-ranked

The post Cody Garbrandt: First Off, I Deserve Some Respect appeared first on LowKick MMA.

It’s a vast understatement to say that Cody Garbrandt merely made a big impact on the UFC bantamweight landscape by knocking out Thomas Almeida in the main event of last night’s (Sun., May 29, 2016) UFC Fight Night 88 from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Garbrandt not only beat the previously No. 7-ranked Almeida, but he dominated him in the first round, needing only 2:53 to end the main event bout with a perfectly-placed and devastating right hook to the jaw. The win ranked as the biggest of his only four-fight UFC career, and he’ll most certainly rise up to a bout with an even higher-ranked opponent next.

With fight-ending power and a stifling lethal boxing offense, Garbrandt will notch his biggest win ever with each victory moving forward, because the word is out and he’ll no doubt crack the bantamweight Top 10 when the rankings debut soon, if not higher. But “No Love” was unranked going into his fight with Almeida, and now that he’s settled that score impressively, he stated he wants his rightful spot on the rankings at the post-fight presser last night (quotes transcribed via MMA Fighting):

“First off, I deserve some respect, that’s going out there, we’re talking about a 21-0 guy who just ran through everybody, and I knocked him out in under three minutes, so let me get at least in the top 10. Let me get these guys that I want to fight, these guys that are high-caliber. The higher the opponent for me, the more that I shine.”

It’s tough to argue with that statement, as Garbrandt clearly rose to meet the test that Almeida presented with his finest performance. Now that he’s on the short list of future title contenders in the suddenly booming bantamweight division, Garbrandt already has a date picked out for his next high-profile opponent, and it’s not surprisingly at UFC 203 this September in his native Ohio:

“UFC 203, Stipe Miocic is defending his belt in Cleveland, Ohio, that’s where I spent a lot of my amateur career and boxing, it’s an hour and 20 minutes from my hometown,” Garbrandt said. “I would like to dance with someone there in the Quicken Loans Arena. Whoever it is, [whoever] the UFC wants to give me, I’m more than ready for them.”

With Miocic recently earning the UFC heavyweight title at UFC 198 to finally bring a championship home to Cleveland, there’s not better a storybook ending than having another one of Ohio’s native sons in compliment him on the main card. Dominick Curz will defend the title against Urijah Faber in the co-main event of next Saturday’s UFC 199, so a quick turnaround from the winner to face Garbrandt is unlikely.

Caraway could be ready to take on his next hyped opponent, however. If he’s not, then a fight against No. 10-ranked former flyweight contender John Dodson, who recently returned to the 135-pound fray and owns a knockout win over Dillashaw, would make for a highly exciting match-up with Garbrandt along the lines of his bout versus Almeida.

The post Cody Garbrandt: First Off, I Deserve Some Respect appeared first on LowKick MMA.

Poll: Does Cody Garbrandt Already Deserve A UFC Title Shot?

Rising bantamweight sensation Cody Garbrandt shocked the MMA world when he knocked out touted prospect Thomas Almeida in the main event of last night’s (Sun., May 29, 2016) UFC Fight Night 88 from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Although he was unranked coming into the bout, Garbrandt capitalized on his bold predictions

The post Poll: Does Cody Garbrandt Already Deserve A UFC Title Shot? appeared first on LowKick MMA.

Rising bantamweight sensation Cody Garbrandt shocked the MMA world when he knocked out touted prospect Thomas Almeida in the main event of last night’s (Sun., May 29, 2016) UFC Fight Night 88 from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Although he was unranked coming into the bout, Garbrandt capitalized on his bold predictions and statement that boxing beats Muay Thai everyday, stalking Almeida down effortlessly to rock him with a varied offense of power punches.

The win will certainly vaunt Garbrandt into the Top 10 where he wants to be, but there could be a strong argument made that he already deserves a 135-pound title shot after knocking out the No. 7-ranked competitor so easily. Taking precious little damage last night, it’s highly understandable that “No Love” wants to return at September’s UFC 203 from his home state of Ohio.

Logic may state that he’s in for a high-profile bout with someone like Bryan Caraway (who wants his own title shot after beating previous No. 4 Aljamain Sterling last night).

While that may transpire with the next rightful title shot perhaps going to the winner of July’s match-up between TJ Dillashaw and Raphael Assuncao, do you believe that Garbrandt is already ready to fight for a title?

The post Poll: Does Cody Garbrandt Already Deserve A UFC Title Shot? appeared first on LowKick MMA.

Cody Garbrandt vs. Thomas Almeida Full Fight Video Highlights

With an opportunity to rise to the enviable position as the clear-cut future of the UFC bantamweight division, previously unranked knockout artist Cody Garbrandt delivered in the biggest spot of his career when he knocked out Thomas Almeida in the main event of tonight’s (Sun., May 29, 2016) UFC Fight Night 88 from the Mandalay Bay Events

The post Cody Garbrandt vs. Thomas Almeida Full Fight Video Highlights appeared first on LowKick MMA.

With an opportunity to rise to the enviable position as the clear-cut future of the UFC bantamweight division, previously unranked knockout artist Cody Garbrandt delivered in the biggest spot of his career when he knocked out Thomas Almeida in the main event of tonight’s (Sun., May 29, 2016) UFC Fight Night 88 from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

It wasn’t all that close, either, as Garbrandt stalked and battered the massively hyped Almeida early and often to hand the young Brazilian his first-ever loss in MMA. Now owning four straight wins in the UFC, Garbrandt has stormed onto the 135-pound title picture and should be set for a high-profile bout next, possibly in the UFC’s Cleveland debut in his home state of Ohio this September.

For now, watch the full fight video highlights of “No Love’s” biggest win here:

The post Cody Garbrandt vs. Thomas Almeida Full Fight Video Highlights appeared first on LowKick MMA.

Jeremy Stephens vs. Renan Barao Full Fight Video Highlights

Renan Barao was looking to make a successful debut at 145 pounds when he met veteran Jeremy Stephens in the co-main vent of last night’s (Sun., May 29, 2016) UFC Fight Night 88 from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, but “Lil’ Heathen” obviously had different plans in mind. Stephens spoiled “The Baron’s”

The post Jeremy Stephens vs. Renan Barao Full Fight Video Highlights appeared first on LowKick MMA.

Renan Barao was looking to make a successful debut at 145 pounds when he met veteran Jeremy Stephens in the co-main vent of last night’s (Sun., May 29, 2016) UFC Fight Night 88 from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, but “Lil’ Heathen” obviously had different plans in mind.

Stephens spoiled “The Baron’s” attempt to reinvent his career at featherweight (at least for the time being) by taking home a close unanimous decision win. In a back-and-forth affair, Stephens absorbed a ton of punishment to dish out even more on Barao, badly rocking the former bantamweight champ with a jaw-dropping barrage of right uppercuts in the second round.

Watch the full fight video highlights of his big win over Barao right here:

The post Jeremy Stephens vs. Renan Barao Full Fight Video Highlights appeared first on LowKick MMA.

UFC Fight Night 88 Bonuses: Cody Garbrandt Leads List Of $50,000 Winners

There was a well-rounded mix of performances at tonight’s (Sun., May 29, 2016) UFC Fight Night 88 from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, but none rang as true as surging bantamweight contender Cody Garbrandt’s first-round knockout of Thomas Almeida in the main event. For the win, Garbrandt earned the first “Performance of

The post UFC Fight Night 88 Bonuses: Cody Garbrandt Leads List Of $50,000 Winners appeared first on LowKick MMA.

There was a well-rounded mix of performances at tonight’s (Sun., May 29, 2016) UFC Fight Night 88 from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, but none rang as true as surging bantamweight contender Cody Garbrandt’s first-round knockout of Thomas Almeida in the main event.

For the win, Garbrandt earned the first “Performance of the Night” bonus on the card, taking home $50,000 for his finest effort.

The second “Performance of the Night” went to middleweight Jake Collier, who rallied back from having his nose broken by debuting Alberto Pereira Uda in the first round with a vicious onslaught of spinning back kicks to the body in the second, scoring the comeback finish.

“Fight of the Night” expectedly went to the co-main event scrap between Jeremy Stephens and Renan Barao, who was making his featherweight debut after losing his bantamweight title. Both fighters landed a ton of shots and did a ton of damage, with Stephens absolutely battering Barao with a never-ending stream of uppercuts in the second frame. But Barao controlled the grappling, and also nailed Stephens with a ton of hard strikes in a back-and-forth affair that both men deserved to earn a bonus for.

The post UFC Fight Night 88 Bonuses: Cody Garbrandt Leads List Of $50,000 Winners appeared first on LowKick MMA.