Cody Garbrandt
Wants to fight: …in a UFC bantamweight title tournament
The callout: “Let’s do a tournament. Let’s do a bantamweight tournament. Let’s get us in there, go to ‘Fight Island’ for a few months, go get quarantined out there, bring our coaches … and let’s go to war. Let’s get this battle, let’s get this tournament, and let’s see who the real champion is. Let’s go back to the old-school days.”
The reality: [autotag]Cody Garbrandt[/autotag] knows his current place in the UFC bantamweight division, and has issued his callout accordingly. The former 135-pound champion may have picked up a stunning knockout of the year contender at UFC 250, but while it’ll certainly feature heavily in the UFC’s upcoming highlight reels, the truth is it’s his first UFC win since December 2016. That gap between wins, plus the three stoppage losses that led him into Saturday’s co-main event, means “No Love” will still need at least one more big win before he can lay claim to a possible title shot.
So, Garbrandt has a solution to help catapult himself back into contention, and it’s an entertaining one, too. A bantamweight tournament would leverage the growing excitement around the UFC’s 135-pound division and could help build real momentum around the UFC’s most fascinating weight class. Talent-wise, the division has never looked better, and a well-promoted tournament (perhaps on “Fight Island”) could offer additional intrigue.
However, Dana White hasn’t been too keen on tournaments before, and while Garbrandt’s suggestion is certainly an exciting one, it’s unlikely we’ll see it come to fruition.
[opinary poll=”how-awesome-does-a-ufc-bantamweight-titl-nevaRv” customer=”mmajunkie”]
[vertical-gallery id=524848]