#2. Cody Garbrandt

Cody Garbrandt: No shortage of confidence

He is young, he is raw and he is yet to be defeated in MMA. Cody ‘No Love’ Garbrandt is 9-0 in MMA (4-0 in UFC). And when he is touted by none other than Urijah Faber to be the next possible opponent to challenge the Dominator, you have got to believe the hype.

His no-nonsense attitude adds color to the game. Garbrandt is a vicious striker, and most of his victories have come from knockouts. Only one of his four victories in UFC (against Henry Briones) has been decided via unanimous decision.

UFC Fight Night 88 showcased his true potential when he knocked out his opponent, Thomas Almeida in the first round. Almeida was also an undefeated prospect and Garbrandt earned a Performance of the Night bonus.

Before UFC, Garbrandt finished each of his opponents via knockout in less than 20 minutes. He is young, and he is destined for a big career.

The following excerpts are taken from his interview with Andrew Richardson of MMAmaia.com, prior to his maiden UFC fight against Marcus Brimage:“I feel very comfortable with this fight (against Brimage). I like that he has a lot of UFC experience. When I finish him, it will put me up where I belong.

“I’d show them no love and how I would fight. I don’t glove touch. I don’t shake hands. I’m in there to fight. We can be cool after the fight, but it’s all business from the weigh-in till my hand is raised at the end of the fight.”

And Garbrandt and Dominick Cruz have been already involved in a war-of-words.

Following the win against Faber at UFC 199, Cruz had an altercation with Garbrandt, who is also Faber’s teammate. Afterwards, Garbrandt told MMAFighting.com,”Really that’s it. I told him to polish up my belt, and he didn’t like it…I really can’t wait…I’ll break his nose. I’m already in the champ’s head.”

And Garbrandt is short tempered. He nearly got into a brawl with Connor McGregor in The Ultimate Fighter when McGregor called TJ Dillashaw a ‘snake’. Both Garbrandt and Cruz can get under each other’s skins. They have dissed each other on twitter before.

And a fight between these two is sure to generate headlines.