What’s the story?
While Ronda Rousey’s annihilation at the hands of Amanda Nunes remained the talking point of UFC 207, it was Cody Garbrandt’s stunning performance against Dominic Cruz which stole the show. The twenty-five-year-old brought his A-game inside the Octagon.
After convincingly defeating the veteran Cruz at UFC 207, Cody still hasn’t let go his war of words against the former champ. In an interview with TMZ Sports, Cody claimed that he could have knocked out Cruz ‘multiple times’, but he was having too much fun toying with him.
In case you didn’t know:
The fight between Cody Garbrandt and Dominic Cruz was expected to be a barnburner right from the moment it was announced. There was an ample amount of trash talk between the two fighters and the buildup to the fight was quite intense.
Dominic Cruz is considered as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in UFC history.
Also read: UFC News: Cody Garbrandt claims he has removed the illusion of invincibility from Dominick Cruz
On the other hand, Cody entered the fight with an unbeaten record of 10-0. While the betting odds favoured Cruz to retain the championship, Cody Garbrandt put up an unexpectedly dominant performance against the former champion and managed to win the belt via a unanimous decision at UFC 207.
The heart of the matter:
In an interview the TMZ Sports, post his win over Dominic Cruz, the new bantamweight champ claimed that could have knocked Cruz out ‘multiple times’, but he was having too much fun toying with his opponent.
While Cody’s words are anything but humble, it would be difficult to deny the truth in them.
Cody managed to drop Cruz several times and dominated the proceedings for most of the fight. Cody seemed to be extremely confident about retaining his belt in a rematch down the line. He said:
“There’s still a rematch down the line and I will stand strong with my prediction in the first fight, I’ll knock him out in the second round this time. I was just having so much fun.
You know, living in the present state of mind and going in there and beating him up like that. I could have taken him out multiple times but I was having fun.”
What’s next?
Dominic Cruz has been an incredible champion for over six years. While T.J. Dillashaw and Urijah Faber were unsuccessful in taking the belt off him, the twenty-five-year-old sensation Cody did it with relative ease.
A rematch between the two would be a step in the right direction. Now that Cody has already announced his intentions for the rematch, it would be interesting to see Cruz’s reaction to the statement.
Sportskeeda’s take:
Cody might be the next big sensation in MMA, taking after the likes of Ronda Rousey and Conor McGregor. He has the skills, he has a streak and he has the swagger.
With UFC becoming a predominantly star-centric promotion, thanks to the rise of Conor McGregor, Cody might be the next big thing for the UFC to capitalise on in the absence of the Notorious One. Moreover, it would be refreshing to see Dominic Cruz chasing the belt rather than defending one.
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