In the history of the UFC, there had never been an event headlined by a non-title bantamweight fight. This is for a lot of reasons, but the biggest is there is an inherent fan bias against the smaller divisions, something the UFC is keenly aware of.
It takes a special talent to break through that artificial boundary.
Hundreds of guys have tried, but the list of small men who have successfully transformed themselves into legitimate MMA gate attractions is short.
B.J. Penn.
Conor McGregor.
That’s it.
What does it take to add a new name to the list? We may be on the way to finding out.
Cody Garbrandt could be the one to follow them, to become the first bantamweight to break out big.
Unranked but undefeated heading into Sunday night, Garbrandt walked into the octagon as an intriguing talent with a small but loyal following and a striking presence. Two minutes and 53 seconds later, everything had changed.
Garbrandt was for real, the future, the chosen one.
While cynics will certainly caution the bandwagon to pump the brakes on the excitement a bit, Garbrandt gave observers plenty of evidence that he may well be the future of the division after absolutely crushing the guy who was supposed to be the future of the division.
Thomas Almeida was 21-0 and ranked in the top 10, and he was nothing more than a speed bump for Garbrandt.
The American’s strikes were faster, sharper and more powerful. But it wasn’t just physical superiority that decided the bout. Garbrandt's finish had some subtle polish to it. Straight maturity.
After rocking Almeida with a short right, it would have been easy for Garbrandt to rush in to look for the close. That’s a common mistake for young fighters, who are often anxious to impress and to earn a bonus. Hell, it’s even fairly common for experienced fighters.
Patience while pushing for the finish is a trait most of the best share. They observe, process, then advance.
That’s exactly what Garbrandt did, sniping from the outside, keeping distance, letting Almeida wade into his own demise.
While Almeida was winging wide strikes, Garbrandt’s right hand was short and sweet. And after lasering in repeatedly, the finisher came with a detonating hook to the chin. The shot came off a crow hop, you know, for extra torque. Wicked stuff.
Garbrandt has that rare gift of explosion in his fists. Dynamite. The touch of unwanted sleep.
It’s a gift that transcends any other characteristic. Personality. Nationality. Even weight divisions.
"Definitely I believe in myself, and I believe I’m the hardest hitter in my division," he said in the post-fight press conference. "I felt his energy. I know he’s a slow starter, so I had to get on him. Once I saw he was bleeding, I jumped on him. I got after him. I saw the speed difference, but definitely the power difference was big."
That might always be the case for Garbrandt. You just don’t see the kind of thud he has walking around the 135-pound class. Dominick Cruz is death by 1,000 angled cuts. T.J. Dillashaw is a compiler. Urijah Faber is a cardio king who grinds you into dust.
Garbrandt? He is a shrunken Chuck Liddell.
We’ll fight where I say we’ll fight, and oh, here’s a right-hand hammer of Thor for suggesting otherwise.
The amazing thing is Garbrandt wasn’t even ranked heading into the bout. But that’s the kind of faith UFC had in this matchup.
By placing Garbrandt and Almeida as the headliners, the promotion was essentially telling the world the winner of the bout was about to take the rocket ship ride toward the top of the division.
Remember, no bantamweights had ever seen the top of a UFC card without a title on the line, and here was Garbrandt—unranked—enjoying the view from the top. This was smart and forward-thinking booking.
Sure, the attendance was a disappointment—just 5,193 fans were inside the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, according to the UFC—but it was a quality gamble with an eye on the potential long-term dividends.
Garbrandt didn’t disappoint, demanding the UFC rankings committee reconsider his ranking—expect to see him crack the top 10—and asking for another big fight on September’s UFC 203 card.
“The higher ranked the opponent, the brighter the lights, the more I shine,” he said. “I need those top fighters to bring it out of me. I want top five fighters, that’s where I believe I’m at.”
That’s where the rest of us should believe he’s at too. It would have been difficult, perhaps impossible, to walk away from the event thinking you hadn’t seen someone special. Garbrandt may not become a champion within a year or two; only time will tell that. But he has it. He has presence and power, things that have proved quite difficult to find in lower divisions.
So when he spoke to the rest of the fighters in his weight class, he might as well have been talking to the rest of us.
“Strap those boots on tight,” he said. “Because I’m gonna knock you out of them.”
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