Cody Garbandt says fighting ‘cab drivers’ gave Thomas Almeida a ‘padded record’

Bantamweight Thomas Almeida carries an impressive record into his UFC Fight Night 88 main event against Cody Garbrandt on Sunday night in Las Vegas. Depending on the source, it’s either 21-0 (Wikipedia) or 20-0 (Sherdog).

But an eye-popping record doesn’t always mean a substantial resume. And Garbrandt believes he’s going into this matchup of undefeated bantamweight hotshots against a foe with padded results.

“Of course he has a padded record,” the Team Alpha Male fighter said on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour.

Almeida’s record was brought up in the context of a prediction made by the Brazilian fighter that he’ll finish Garbrandt in the second round of their matchup at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. Garbrandt believes that if a fighter with such a gaudy record was truly confident, he wouldn’t expect it to get that far.

“If I’m 21-0, however many cab drivers he beat for that record, I would be very confident definitely that I would beat an 8-0 guy in the first round,” Garbrandt said. “Anybody that I fought in the first round, so for him to say he’d knock me out in the second, feels like he has a little bit of doubt in himself you know? I want to make sure that bout won’t go beyond the first round.”

Almeida has 19 career finishes. But none of his first 18 career opponents even have a Wikipedia page, perhaps bolstering Garbrandt’s claim. Still, though, Almeida’s gotten the job done in the UFC going 4-0 and earning postfight bonuses in all four fights, including a memorable rally against Brad Pickett at UFC …

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