Dominick Cruz thought he had Cody Garbrandt beat before the two men even stepped in the cage at UFC 207.
Stunningly, however, it was Garbrandt who turned out to have all the answers once the talking stopped and the fight started Friday. The 25-year-old challenger battered Cruz from start to finish in their co-main event bout, eventually taking the UFC men’s bantamweight title via unanimous decision [48-46, 48-47, 48-46].
For Garbrandt, it was both a breakthrough victory in his undefeated career and a cathartic moment. He and Cruz had exchanged bitter trash talk leading up to the fight, and the consensus among fans and media was that the champion had dominated the exchanges.
Two days before the fight, Cruz’s verbal needling even forced Garbrandt to storm out of a televised interview between the two. At that moment, it appeared Cruz had mentally broken the young Team Alpha Male fighter before the first punch was thrown.
But to the surprise of nearly everyone, Garbrandt looked cool and collected on fight night. After their clash was over and the belt was in his hands, he said the emotionally charged lead-up hadn’t bothered him in the slightest.
“I thrive in that environment,” Garbrandt told UFC color commentator Joe Rogan in the cage. “That’s what I grew up in—fighting. I don’t know nothing else but fighting. Hats off to Dominick and his team for making me a better person and a better fighter tonight. He’s tough as hell.”
Despite Cruz’s overwhelming confidence, it was clear early on that this was going to be a different kind of scrap than he expected. Garbrandt’s power had been well-documented as he amassed a 10-0 overall record (5-0 in the UFC), but perhaps the most astonishing thing was how polished the rest of his game looked as well.
Not only did Garbrandt hit harder than Cruz, he looked plenty slick and technical too. His footwork was nearly flawless and his hand speed quick enough that he was able to get the better of Cruz during the lion’s share of the punching exchanges.
He also stuffed most of the champion’s takedown attempts and nicked away at him with kicks to the legs and body.
Garbrandt set the tone early. As a troubling number of his punches began to land during the first round, he taunted Cruz by pulling off a few mid-fight dance moves.
As the fight wore on, Garbrandt kept it up. He continually pointed to the center of the cage and invited the notoriously mobile Cruz to meet him there. Garbrandt hung his hands low, waggled a finger at Cruz or shook his head when the champion’s strikes missed and even once dropped down into a push-up position in the middle of the action.
This would have been extraordinary behavior for any young fighter in a pay-per-view title match, but it was doubly so considering his opponent. To this point in his career, Cruz had been a puzzle no one in the Octagon could figure out.
During six previous title fights in the WEC/UFC, Cruz had befuddled his foes with his herky-jerky unorthodox style. He was used to leading the dance, beating opponents both mentally and physically, so as this fight wore on the realization that Garbrandt was getting the better of it may have been as shocking to Cruz as anyone else.
After two relatively close rounds, Garbrandt fully seized control in the third. In that stanza he stunned Cruz with an early punch, his heavier shots beginning to take a noticeable toll as he avoided most of Cruz’s normally effective counters.
The onslaught continued in the fourth, when Garbrandt dropped Cruz as many as three times over the course of five minutes. There were times when it seemed Garbrandt might be able to finish the fight, and others when it appeared as though his continual taunting of Cruz may have cost him the opportunity.
Case-in-point: When it momentarily looked as though Cruz had been knocked out by a particularly hard punch in the fourth, Garbrandt stopped to point and laugh at him instead of following up with fight-ending strikes.
Cruz used the short pause to recover, though he was never able to dictate the tenor of the action, as he had in previous UFC appearances.
For the first time, the 31-year-old Cruz, who had seen his career slowed by a string of injuries in recent years, did not have the speed or the agility to keep up with his younger opponent.
As Bleacher Report’s Patrick Wyman noted on Twitter:
Sad to say, but it looked like age and injuries finally caught up to Cruz. Looked heavier on his feet, reflexes just a bit slower. #UFC207
— Patrick Wyman (@Patrick_Wyman) December 31, 2016
Also working against Cruz was a nasty gash in his left eyebrow suffered during an unintentional clash of heads during the third round. He spent the rest of the fight with blood streaming down the side of his face, but he never faded.
The final round, in fact, was arguably Cruz’s best of the fight. Perhaps sensing the urgency of the moment, be began to pressure Garbrandt. Cruz landed a fair amount of his swarming punches, but Garbrandt weathered them.
The effort turned out to be too little, too late once the official scores were read.
Afterward, the two fighters appear at least momentarily able to bury the hatchet on their feud. They shared a hug and a few words, and then Garbrandt quickly turned his attention to the man who might be his first title challenger—former champion TJ Dillashaw.
Earlier in the night at UFC 207, Dillashaw dismantled John Lineker in a bout between the No. 1 and No. 2 bantamweight contenders in the UFC. Dillashaw—who lost his belt to Cruz in January 2016—schooled the heavy-handed Lineker with mobility and takedowns over the course of their three-round fight.
After his unanimous-decision victory was announced, Dillashaw made it clear what’s next on his wish list.
“I want my belt,” he told Rogan in the cage. “That’s my belt.”
He may get the chance to try to prove it in the near future.
For now, though, this was Garbrandt’s night.
After a tough and emotional fight week ruled by Cruz, Garbrandt was finally at his best when his best was needed.
