Cody Garbrandt scores impressive knockout, eyes spot in UFC 203 near hometown in Ohio

By Jesse Granger

Sunday, May 29, 2016 | 11:09 p.m.

Cody Garbrandt stood in the octagon at the Mandalay Bay Events Center waiting for his opponent in the main event of UFC Fight Night 88, peering through the cage at UFC brass Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta and predicting to them, “this is my night.”

Garbrandt said it best.

His perfectly placed right hand sent Thomas Almeida reeling to the canvas, and in the time it took Almeida’s head to bounce off the mat and referee John McCarthy to call the fight at the 2:53 mark of the first round, a new UFC star was likely born in the bantamweight division.

“I believe in myself,” Garbrandt said. “I’m the hardest hitter in my division. I’ll knock anyone out in this division. Dominick Cruz or whoever.”

Garbrandt’s speed advantage was obvious from the opening bell, as the Ohio native tagged Almeida at will.

“I know he’s a slow starter so I knew I had to get on him,” Garbrandt said. “Once I landed one of the hard shots and his eye started bleeding, then he wouldn’t come forward on me like he does other opponents.”

With 20 knockouts, Almeida is one of the most accomplished fighters in the division but Garbrandt danced circles around the Brazilian before finishing him in dramatic fashion.

“I knew once I found his chin he was going to go to sleep,” Garbrandt said. “I thought he was going to throw a little more but my speed threw him off.”

Heading into the bout Garbrandt was unranked, but after dismantling the seventh ranked Almeida, and handing him his first loss in 22 professional fights, he is demanding respect.

“The brighter the lights the more I shine,” Garbrandt said. “I definitely want top-five fighters and that’s where I believe that I’m at.”

Garbrandt then went on to plead for a spot on UFC 203 in Cleveland, only miles from his hometown of Uhrichsville, Ohio, which will be headlined by Stipe Miocic defending his heavyweight belt against Alistair Overeem on Sept. 10.

“(I don’t have) interest with any name, just whoever wants to dance,” Garbrandt said. “And strap those boots on tight because I’m going to knock you out of them.”

With Cruz defending his bantamweight belt against Urijah Faber in Los Angeles next Saturday, Renan Barao moving up to featherweight and T.J. Dillashaw scheduled to fight Raphael Assuncao at UFC 200 the division is up in the air.

With his charisma and knockout power, Garbrandt perfectly fits the mold to become one of the next superstars in mixed martial arts, but that’s not what he’s focused on.

“I don’t look at it like that, I’m going to stay humble,” Garbrandt said. “That was just a win. That was just another guy they put in front of me on my crusade to the title.”

Check below for results from the rest of UFC Fight Night 88.

• Jeremy Stephens spoiled former bantamweight champion Renan Barao’s featherweight debut with a unanimous decision of 29-28 on all three judges’ scorecards to win in the night’s most exciting fight. Stephens traded punches with Barao, and finished the fight strong, winning the last two rounds on all three judges scorecards.

• Rick “The Horror” Story returned from a 19-month layoff to earn a dominant unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27) victory over Tarec Saffiedine. Story controlled the octagon with relentless pressure and bruised Saffiedine with body shots in the clinch throughout the fight.

• Chris Camozzi continued his UFC resurgence, winning his third straight bout with a unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) upset win over Vitor Miranda.

• Lorenz Larkin battered Jorge Masvidal with kicks, including a brutal head kick in the second round, on the way to his split decision win (28-29, 29-28, 29-28) in their welterweight bout.

• After a tentative first round Paul Felder poured it on Josh Burkman with a barrage of strikes in the final two rounds to walk away with a unanimous decision win (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).

• Sara McMann used her Olympic-level wrestling to control Jessica Eye in a methodical unanimous decision victory (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) in their women’s bantamweight bout.

• UFC veteran Abel Trujillo finished strong to win a unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) over newcomer Jordan Rinaldi, who was making his UFC debut.

• Jake Collier bounced back after having his nose broken in the first round to knock out Alverto Uda 1:06 into the second round with a spinning back kick followed by punches.

• Eric Koch submitted Shane Campbell with a rear-naked choke 3:02 into the second round of their lightweight fight.

• Bryan Caraway shocked the crowd by knocking off the card’s highest ranked fighter, Aljamain Sterling, via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) of their bantamweight bout. The loss is the first of Sterling’s career.

• Heavyweight Adam Milstead knocked out Chris De La Rocha at 4:01 of the second round to open things up at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.