Sherdog.com’s 2016 Breakthrough Fighter of the Year

Cody Garbrandt entered 2016 as a promising but unproven prospect and left it as the Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight titleholder. It was a meteoric rise, to say the least. The ink dried on Garbrandt’s remarkable campaign at UFC 207 on Dec. 30, as he struck gold at 135 pounds with a five-round unanimous decision over Dominick Cruz at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. He swept the scorecards with 48-46, 48-47 and 48-46 marks from the judges, improved to 11-0 and cemented himself as the Sherdog “Breakthrough Fighter of the Year.”Cruz could not cope with the challenger’s speed, power and precision. Garbrandt attacked the legs early on and then went headhunting. He opened a horrendous gash on Cruz’s left eyebrow in the third round and floored him twice in the fourth, first with a clean right hook and later with a left. Needing a finish, Cruz spent the final five minutes trying to chase down the Uhrichsville, Ohio, native. His pursuit appeared to win him the round but failed to net the desired result. “I always was comfortable in there. I was really curious to see his speed and his angles. Everyone believed the hype of him, saying he’s The Matrix, he’s the ghost in there,” Garbrandt said. “He’s great. I’m not taking anything away from him, but I was almost in shock that he was as slow as he was. His movements and angles weren’t there.” The loss was Cruz’s first since March 24, 2007 and closed the book on his 13-fight winning streak. “It played out how I thought it was going to,” Garbrandt said. “Dom is a great champion. He’s arguably one of the greatest bantamweights to ever grace the Octagon, and it was a pleasure going out there and testing my mettle. I had a lot of what ifs, and I think I solved every one of them.” Fitness was a key factor. “I come from Team Alpha Male, and that’s something they pride themselves on is world-class cardio,” Garbrandt said. “That’s something I’ve always …

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