Cody Garbrandt Wins Bantamweight Title In Brilliant Performance
The co-main event of UFC 207 was a bantamweight title match between title holder Dominick Cruz (22-2) and Cody Garbrandt (11-0). The heated words and confrontations finally led to the championship bout inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
In the most complete performance of his career, “No Love” walked out of Las Vegas with gold.
Cruz landed a right hand early and sway out of the way of a punch. Garbrandt poked fun at poked fun at the champ by dancing. “No Love” missed a head kick. Garbrandt landed a left hand as Cruz backed up. The challenger swarmed, but “The Dominator” evaded all the strikes. A leg kick connected for Cruz. Cruz caught a kick, but couldn’t take advantage.
“No Love continued to mock Cruz. The champ took him down, but Garbrandt scrambled out quickly. Garbrandt landed a right hand, but Cruz answered with a jab and a left hand. The challenger landed his own takedown, but Cruz got up quickly. The round ended and Garbrandt had some success early.
Cruz blocked a head kick at the start of the second round. A combination from the champion landed. Cruz clipped Garbrandt, who had thrown some stiff punches prior. A counter right hand landed for the challenger. A knee to the body found the mark for Cruz. The challenger landed a left hook. A kick to the body landed for “No Love.” A counter right hand connected for Cruz. The round ended shortly after.
Garbrandt tagged Cruz with a left hand early in the third frame. A cut formed above the left eye of the champion. The cut was the result of an accidental headbutt. The challenger talked trash and mocked Cruz after hitting him with a right hand. “No Love” swarmed in and landed a right hand. The challenger landed a punch that looked to drop the champion. Cruz was back on his heels quickly. “No Love” avoided a takedown. The round ended and it was clearly in favor of the challenger.
The fourth round began and Cruz threw some hard kicks. Garbrandt’s high kick was blocked. They exchanged strikes and the challenger dropped Cruz. The champ was back up and it looked as if Garbrandt let him off the hook. Cruz threw a sloppy lunging punch. “No Love” dropped Cruz again. The round ended and it was abundantly clear, the champion needed a finish to retain his gold
Garbrandt kept mocking his opponent into the final round. Cruz put together some strikes and kicks. “No Love” missed a spinning backfist. Cruz went for his own backfist that also missed. This was easily Cruz’s best round since the second up to this point. The challenger pressed his opponent against the fence. A knee to the body on the break was there for “No Love.” The final horn sounded and both men embraced.
All three judges scored the fight for Garbrandt, and he was awarded the bantamweight championship.
Final Result: Cody Garbrandt def. Dominick Cruz via unanimous decision (48-46, 48-47, 48-46)
