Ex-UFC champion Cody Garbrandt leaves opponent face down with one-punch KO

17 December 2023 , 02:13

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Cody Garbrandt knocked out Brian Kelleher at UFC 296

Former UFC champion Cody Garbrandt turned back the clock by leaving his opponent Brian Kelleher face down with a brutal one-punch KO.

Garbrandt, 32, is now on his best unbeaten run since capturing the UFC bantamweight title against Dominick Cruz seven years ago as he extended his winning streak to three fights by knocking out Kelleher. 'No Love' was the quicker of the two men as Kelleher tried his best to take the former champion down, but Garbrandt did a good job of keeping the fight on the feet.

Kelleher was hurt midway through the opening round and Garbrandt began to taunt his rival whilst hunting for the finish. Fighting on the backfoot whilst attempting to throw a kick, Kelleher was caught by a right hand from Garbrandt and fell face first to the canvas. Garbrandt didn't follow up with any punches as referee Marc Goddard stopped the bout, awarding Garbrandt his first KO win in over three years.

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"He had a good gameplan, coming out and trying to kick my leg to affect my movement," Garbrandt said of Kelleher. "I've got a lot of respect for this guy, he's been in some close fights and he's come back from a big injury. I know how hard that is mentally to come back from so hats off to Brian, he's a great competitor."

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Garbrandt called for a fight against Deiveson Figueiredo next following their ill-fated flyweight title fight that was cancelled because of the Coronavirus pandemic. "I want to stay busy in 2024. This fight should have happened a long time, we were stripped away from a world title because of Covid. He's in my division now, so let's get ready for April or May," he said.

Elsewhere on the UFC 296 preliminary card, Ariane Lipski dominated Casey O'Neill on the feet before forcing her to tap out with an armbar. Tagir Ulanbekov established himself as a top contender at flyweight by choking out Cody Durden whilst Andre Fili picked up his first knockout win in over four years by stopping Lucas Almeida. Shamil Gaziev also won his UFC debut by knocking out Martin Buday in the opening bout of the night.

Ian Garry was supposed to fight Vicente Luque at the pay-per-view event but he was forced to withdraw after contracting pneumonia. The unbeaten Irishman has endured a tough past weeks after he and wife Layla have been relentlessly attacked online by trolls, with Garry even admitting that he feared for his family's safety when travelling to America for the ill-fated fight.

Harry Davies