Cody Garbrandt planned for UFC 326 chaos, but not double nut shots
· Yahoo Sports
LAS VEGAS – Cody Garbrandt met the media Saturday after his win over Xiao Long at UFC 324.
Garbrandt (15-7 MMA, 10-7 UFC) beat Long (27-11 MMA, 1-3 UFC) with a unanimous decision to close out the prelims at T-Mobile Arena – but it wasn't an average, ordinary decision.
Visit xsportfeed.quest for more information.
The former bantamweight champion got the win with rare 28-27 scores from all three judges. Garbrandt, in normal circumstances, would've lost a 29-28 decision from those same judges. But Long was deducted a point for low blows on two separate occasions, which literally turned his win into a loss.
Not that the points were deducted for nothing. Garbrandt actually vomited in the cage after the first low blow.
"It was a very bizarre fight," Garbrandt saida at his post-fight news conference. "My coaches had me prepared for a kind of similar style of him coming out aggressive and chaotic, but we didn’t think it was going to be that chaotic.
"… I got inadvertently kicked, you know, a few times, and I’ve never been hit that hard, in the groin to where I was, I was throwing up inside there. But I didn’t want to go on and win just from that, and then I rallied from the crowd. Then 30, 40 seconds later, got hit again."
It's been nearly eight years since Garbrandt was fighting for titles at 135 pounds. He hasn't been able to put together the kind of momentum to be in the mix, outside a modest two-fight winning streak in 2023.
But against Long in a fight in which he was an underdog, he snapped a two-fight skid and thinks he might be able to put something together this year.
"There are a lot of up-and-comers coming in to fight," Garbrandt said. "There's this David Martinez from Mexico. He's a young prospect that's just beaten two top guys. He beat (Marlon) 'Chito' (Vera) a few weeks ago. He's beat Rob Font. He's in the top 10, and I like his style. It's a good fight for me stylistically to get back into the top 10.
"… I'd love to be active, too. We'll get this knee checked out, make sure my nuts are still there (after the low blows) and go from there. Hopefully I'll fight before the summer."
Check out Garbrandt's post-fight interview in the video above.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Cody Garbrandt planned for UFC 326 chaos, but not double nut shots