Cody Garbrandt

Cody Garbrandt (born July 7, 1991) is an American professional mixed martial artist.

He currently competes in the Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former UFC Bantamweight Champion.

Garbrandt was born in Uhrichsville, Ohio, on July 7, 1991, and raised there mostly by his mother Jessica.

Cody is ten months younger than his brother Zach, who he grew up constantly fighting.

Garbrandt has claimed in several interviews that his drug addict father was never in the picture, spending most of his life in prison.

Garbrandt's parents separated after a domestic abuse incident when Cody was one year old.

Eventually, Cody was adopted by his mother's now ex-husband at the age of 10.

At the ages of four and five, Cody and Zach, respectively, had already been dabbling into boxing with their uncle Robert Meese who was an Olympic alternate in the sport.

However, their mother was concerned about the boys becoming punch-drunk thus forbidding boxing and directing them towards wrestling.

At Claymont High School, Garbrandt competed in wrestling and football, winning a state championship as a freshman in 2007, by defeating Zach Neibert, 4–2, and was a runner-up in 2008.

In football, Garbrandt won All–State honors as a linebacker during his junior season.

After failing to claim the second state championship, Garbrandt became the NHSCA Sophomore National runner–up and subsequently stopped wrestling and convinced his mother to let him start training boxing seriously.

Over about six years, Garbrandt compiled a 32–0 record as an amateur boxer.

Despite not competing in wrestling during his final two years of high school, Garbrandt competed at the national tournament as a senior and placed fifth, claiming All–American honors and receiving interest from several NCAA Division I schools, such as Penn State and Rutgers.

He was then recruited by the Michigan State Spartans, but due to academic reasons, he ended up at Newberry College, a Division II school, before dropping out for academic and personal reasons, explaining;

"“I guess my heart wasn’t into (wrestling) anymore. I was doing boxing, and that’s what I wanted to do.”"

After dropping out, Garbrandt sold marijuana, worked as a bouncer, and eventually completed coal miner training in order to work in the field familiar to his family.

However, he decided to commit completely to his amateur MMA career, which was afoot after helping several MMA camps with wrestling.

Garbrandt ended up taking his first amateur bout in 2009 and compiled an amateur MMA record of 6–2 before making his professional debut in 2012.

His pro record currently stands at 13–5, with ten of his opponents being finished via strikes.

Prior to his finish of James Porter in May 2014, he moved from Ohio to Sacramento, California to train at Team Alpha Male in an attempt to further his career.

After a first-round finish of Charles Sanford in October 2014, he signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship in the fall of 2014.

Garbrandt made his promotional debut against Marcus Brimage on January 3, 2015, at UFC 182.

He won the fight via TKO in the third round.

Garbrandt faced Henry Briones on July 11, 2015, at UFC 189.

He won the fight by unanimous decision, going the distance for the first time in his professional career.

Garbrandt was expected to face long-time veteran John Lineker on February 21, 2016, at UFC Fight Night 83.

However, Lineker pulled out of the fight during the week, after contracting Dengue Fever, and he was replaced by Augusto Mendes.

Garbrandt won the fight via TKO in the first round.

Garbrandt faced fellow undefeated prospect Thomas Almeida on May 29, 2016, headlining UFC Fight Night 88.

He won the fight by knockout in the first round and also earned a Performance of the Night bonus.

Garbrandt next faced Takeya Mizugaki on August 20, 2016, at UFC 202.

He won the fight via TKO in the opening minute of the first round.

Garbrandt faced Dominick Cruz for the UFC Bantamweight Championship on December 30, 2016, at UFC 207.

Garbrandt won the fight by unanimous decision after knocking Cruz down twice and nearly finishing him in the fourth round.

In January 2017, the UFC announced that Garbrandt would be one of the coaches on The Ultimate Fighter 25 opposite former UFC Bantamweight champion (and former Team Alpha Male teammate) T.J. Dillashaw, with the two expected to face each other on July 8, 2017, at UFC 213.

However, the bout was scrapped on May 23, after Garbrandt sustained a back injury.

The bout was rescheduled and eventually took place on November 4, 2017, at UFC 217.

Despite knocking him down at the end of the first, Dillashaw rallied in the second round and defeated Garbrandt via technical knockout, marking his first loss in his professional career and losing the title.

Garbrandt then faced T.J. Dillashaw in a rematch for the UFC Bantamweight Championship on August 4, 2018, at UFC 227.