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Cody Garbrandt: I Will Knock Out Dominick Cruz 10 Out Of 10 Times

No. 7-ranked UFC bantamweight prospect Cody “No Love” Garbrandt recently established himself as a legitimate threat with an emphatic knockout victory over the previously unbeaten Thomas Almeida in the main event of May 29’s UFC Fight Night 88 from Las Vegas, Nevada. Even after the tremendous victory, “No Love” may still be a win or

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Even after the tremendous victory, “No Love” may still be a win or two away from a title shot in the resurgent 135-pound division, and he called out No. 4-ranked Bryan Caraway for a bout at UFC 203 after his latest win.

Whatever may lied ahead, Garbrandt will be ready if and when he receives his shot at divisional supremacy.

In fact, “No Love” has been visualizing himself competing against bantamweight kingpin Dominick Cruz for quite some time now, and would be confident that he would put “The Dominator” away if the two were to meet:

“Like I said before, I’ve visualized myself knocking that dude out since I was 16 years old. When he was in the WEC, that’s a guy that I knew I was going to lock horns with one day, and now it’s surreal because it’s almost about to happen. So I have been getting ready for him mentally; putting in the physical camp in and getting the call. He’s a great fighter, but with my style I will knock him out 10 times out of 10.” Garbrandt said during a recent UFC 199 media scrum (Via MMAMania.com).

Garbrandt clearly has his eyes set on the gold, be he can’t get too far ahead of himself. The 24-year-old packs a powerful punch, but Cruz is a master of not getting hit, and “The Dominator” may simply be the best 135-pounder of all-time.

Cruz is coming off of a successful and definitive title defense over long-time rival Urijah Faber, who happens to be a teammate of Garbrandt’s, in the co-main event of last weekend’s (June 4, 2016) UFC 199 from The Forum.

What’s next for Cruz is currently unknown, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see him and “No Love” meet down the line.

Does Garbrandt represent the stiffest test to Cruz’s throne?

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Top 10 Muay Thai Kickboxers In The UFC

Over the course of the sport’s short history, Thailand’s revered Muay Thai kickboxing has become one of the most common and successful bases from which to transfer to MMA. While we’ve learned that having skills in only one discipline is not a recipe for success in the modern version of MMA, many fighters with a focus on “the

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Over the course of the sport’s short history, Thailand’s revered Muay Thai kickboxing has become one of the most common and successful bases from which to transfer to MMA.

While we’ve learned that having skills in only one discipline is not a recipe for success in the modern version of MMA, many fighters with a focus on “the art of eight limbs” have found incredible success in the Octagon.

Originating in Thailand, where a booming professional scene still flourishes, Muay Thai is now used by combatants from all over the world.

This piece aims to rank the ten best fighters employing the striking style today. Devastating clinch work, slashing elbows, whipping kicks, and crushing knees all could gain a fighter entry to this list, as well as a traditional Muay Thai background. Those that use them to the most damaging effect, rely on them as fundamental to their games, and utilize a combination of these characteristic techniques set themselves apart and climb the ranks.

This is not an all-time list. That may come later. This one looks at the fighters on the current UFC roster most likely to finish a fight from the thai plum, break someone’s nose with a standing elbow, or send an opponent crashing to the canvas with a knee to the solar plexus.

Continue for the list of the best Muay Thai kickboxers in the UFC.

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Dominick Cruz & Cody Garbrandt Share Heated Twitter Exchange

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UFC bantamweight prospect Cody Garbrandt improved his record to 9-0 at UFC Fight Night 88 with a stunning KO of Thomas Almeida. The Brazilian was on a red hot streak before meeting Garbrandt, with an undefeated record of 21-0, but ‘No Love’ was in no mood for anything more than one round in Vegas. In a fantastic display of offensive striking and footwork, Garbrandt exposed the holes in Almeida’s defense and scored a game changing first round finish.

With the bantamweight division once again being ruled by Dominick Cruz, there’s a lot of potential fights going on among the contenders, especially now the Team Alpha Male striker has shaken things up.

May 29, 2016; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Cody Garbrandt (blue gloves) punches Thomas Almeida (red gloves) during UFC Fight Night at Mandalay Bay Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Joshua Dahl-USA TODAY Sports

Since defeating ‘Terminator’ in such dominant fashion, Garbrandt has called out Bryan Caraway, who defeated Aljamain Sterling by decision at the same event. It looks as though they could potentially duke it out for the rights to the next title shot, but it’s not stopped ‘No Love’ and the current 135-pound champion Dominick Cruz from exchanging a few words.

After a number of harrowing injuries meant Cruz had to vacate the bantamweight title, he returned with a win over Takeya Mizugaki, before coming back in a big way in 2016. Beating the former Team Alpha Male standout TJ Dillashaw to recapture the title, ‘The Dominator’ aligned himself for the trilogy bout with Urijah Faber at UFC 199 this coming Saturday (June 4, 2016).

Check out the Twitter beef on page 2

continue…

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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

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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

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Fight Night 88 Highlights/Results: Garbrandt Sleeps Almeida, Stephens Upsets Barao + More

(via UFC on FOX)

With last weekend’s Fight Night 88 main event matchup between Cody Garbrandt and Thomas Almeida, we were being promised a glimpse at the future of the bantamweight division regardless of who won. More of us may have been banking on the latter to emerge as that future champion, sure, but it would be hard to discredit either fighter as anything but a top contender following an impressive win.

Given Almeida’s tendency to get rocked at least once in every one of his UFC fights thus far, one would assume that his camp would have placed an emphasis on head movement and staying off the line against a similarly devastating puncher like Garbrandt. Then again, this is Chute Box we’re talking about after all, so it’s likely that their gameplan for the fight never stretched beyond “swing for the goddamn fences and hope you land first.” As such, Almeida’s first round KO loss to the Team Alpha Male up-and-comer demonstrated that, as dynamic as the young Brazilian may be offensively, he still has a bit of work to do defensively. Live and learn.

Full results and highlights for Fight Night 88 are after the jump.

The post Fight Night 88 Highlights/Results: Garbrandt Sleeps Almeida, Stephens Upsets Barao + More appeared first on Cagepotato.

(via UFC on FOX)

What a fall from grace it’s been for Renan Barao. The former bantamweight kingpin was pummeled right out of his division in back-to-back appearances against TJ Dillashaw, and his featherweight debut against Jeremy Stephens in the co-main event of Fight Night 88 didn’t exactly sell him as a future champion of that division either. Despite a strong showing in the opening round, Barao seemed almost insistent on gassing himself out in the second and third with failed takedown attempts, and in doing so, allowed the veteran Stephens to find his rhythm in the exchanges and bust the Brazilian open on multiple occasions. Like Florian said, Barao may not be a broken fighter, but he’s definitely a defeated one at this point.

There wasn’t really much else to write home about on Fight Night 88, however, and the UFC on FOX channel has likewise opted against uploading any more highlight videos. With that in mind, let’s just touch on a few other noteworthy moments:

– Even in victory, Rick Story was left with a gruesome reminder of Tarec Saffiedine’s kicking abilities.

– After all that trash he talked, Aljamain Sterling just couldn’t get it done against “Mr. Tate” Bryan Caraway. The only thing worse than his performance? The absolute garbage takes on Twitter that came in the aftermath.

–Erik Koch looked like a goddamn man possessed against Shane Campbell and showed next to no signs of the ring rust you’d expect from a guy coming off his *second* two year injury. His post-fight mean mug = absolute savagery.

The full results for Fight Night 88 are below.

Main card (FOX Sports 1 at 9 p.m. ET)
Cody Garbrandt def. Thomas Almeida via KO (punches) at 2:53 of round 1
Jeremy Stephens def. Renan Barao via unanimous decision
Rick Story def. Tarec Saffiedine via unanimous decision
Chris Camozzi vs. Vitor Miranda via unanimous decision
Lorenz Larkin def. Jorge Masvidal via split decision
Paul Felder def. Josh Burkman via unanimous decision

Undercard (FOX Sports 1 at 7 p.m. ET)
Sara McMann def. Jessica Eye via unanimous decision
Abel Trujillo def. Jordan Rinaldi via unanimous decision
Jake Collier def. Alberto Uda via TKO (spinning back kick) at 1:06 of round 2
Erik Koch def. Shane Campbell via submission (rear naked choke) at 3:02 of round 2

Undercard (UFC Fight Pass at 6 p.m. ET)
Bryan Caraway def. Aljamain Sterling via split decision
Adam Milstead def. Chris De La Rocha via TKO (punches) at 4:01 of round 2

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UFC Fight Night 88 Salaries: Jeremy Stephens Tops List With $100,000 Payday

Following a successful UFC Fight Night 88 event this past Sunday night in Las Vegas, Nevada, the fighter salaries have surfaced online.

Leading the payroll for this past Sunday’s event, which UFC President Dana White called the “sleeper card of the …

Following a successful UFC Fight Night 88 event this past Sunday night in Las Vegas, Nevada, the fighter salaries have surfaced online.

Leading the payroll for this past Sunday’s event, which UFC President Dana White called the “sleeper card of the year,” was Jeremy Stephens. “Lil Heathen” Stephens earned a reported $100,000 payday for his victory over former UFC Bantamweight Champion Renan Barao in Barao’s featherweight debut.

Below are the complete UFN 88 fighter salaries, according to figures released by the Nevada Athletic Commission:

Main Card (FOX Sports 1):

Cody Garbrandt ($24,000 + $24,000 = $48,000) def. Thomas Almeida ($25,000)
Jeremy Stephens ($50,000 + $50,000 = $100,000) def. Renan Barao ($50,000)
Rick Story ($38,000 + $38,000 = $76,000) def. Tarec Saffiedine ($37,000)
Chris Camozzi ($36,000 + $36,000 = $72,000) vs. Vitor Miranda ($18,000)
Lorenz Larkin ($36,000 + $36,000 = $72,000) def. Jorge Masvidal ($57,000)
Paul Felder ($21,000 + $21,000 = $42,000) def. Josh Burkman ($48,000)

Preliminary Card (FOX Sports 1):

Sara McMann ($25,000 + $25,000 = $50,000) def. Jessica Eye ($25,000)
Abel Trujillo ($26,000 + $26,000 = $52,000) def. Jordan Rinaldi ($10,000)
Jake Collier ($15,000 + $15,000 = $30,000) def. Alberto Uda ($10,000)
Erik Koch ($21,000 + $21,000 = $42,000) def. Shane Campbell ($15,000)

Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass):

Bryan Caraway ($18,000 + $18,000 = $36,000) def. Aljamain Sterling ($30,000)
Adam Milstead ($10,000 + $10,000 = $20,000) def. Chris De La Rocha ($10,000)