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Cape Town - The 135-pound division has officially been put on notice.
Two undefeated bantamweights clashed in the main event of UFC Fight Night 88 in Las Vegas on Sunday and it was 24-year old Ohio native Cody “No Love” Garbrandt who came out on top and announced himself to the rest of division with a beautifully violent stoppage of the Brazilian phenom Thomas Almeida according to MMALatestNews.com.
Almeida brought a perfect and outstanding 22-0 record into Sunday’s main event of which 16 came by way of KO/TKO. A huge buzz surrounded the young man who hails from Sao Paulo, Brazil after he stopped his 3 of his first 4 opponents inside the Octagon of which he earned a post fight bonus after all of his wins. With stoppages of Yves Jabouin, Brad Pickett and most recently Anthony Birchak the hype surrounding Almeida increased tenfold and with that he was given the opportunity to face a fellow undefeated rising star.
Garbrandt (9-0) has long been thought of as a potential contender inside the cage and after the stoppage of Almeida on Sunday, thoughts are now reality. A member of the famed Team Alpha Male, Cody possesses very good wrestling and heavy hands thanks to his uncle who started training him at the age of 15. Now an actual threat to anyone at 135-pounds the unranked star hopes to have gained some respect after the eighth stoppage of his young career.
“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 I shine.
"UFC 203, Stipe 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. I would love to dance with someone there. Whoever it is, [Whoever] the UFC wants to give me, I’m more than ready.”
With the bantamweight division, ruled by Dominick Cruz, looking to be as deep and competitive as ever, the future for young Garbrandt is super bright as he shares the division with the likes of John Dodson, Bryan Caraway, Michael McDonald and John Lineker to name a few. While he may be young, a title shot may just be one or two more wins away.
