UFC Fight Night: Almeida vs. Garbrandt post-fight results and analysis

The UFC’s Memorial Day weekend Sunday special is all wrapped up, and it was a marathon of an event. We had a run of seven consecutive decisions, which is why I’m thankful this card didn’t get the usual 10 PM ET start time. With that said, most of the fights were quite entertaining to watch. The main event, however, didn’t go the distance, and was never going to. Cody Garbrandt walloped Thomas Almeida with some superb, sharp, and powerful striking, and finished the Brazilian with a gargantuan right hand. His boxing gave Almeida all sorts of problems and after hurting him multiple times in their brief (2:53) throwdown, and unlike Brad Pickett, he seized his opportunity and knocked Almeida off the ranks of the unbeaten.

Garbrandt looked outstanding and just tore Almeida apart. I’m blown away by his speed and his combinations. Are there questions to be asked about how he’d fare against a strong grappler with good takedowns? Sure! And right now, I don’t really care. Garbrandt was tremendous and the 135 lbs division has a new top 10 contender. You should be excited, because I most certainly am.

More thoughts on tonight’s card:

FS1 main card This isn’t my space to do fantasy matchmaking, but Garbrandt vs. John Lineker/Michael McDonald winner must happen next. The Almeida hype train isn’t “derailed” unless you think he’s never going to contend. Prospects lose at some point in their development — Miocic to Struve, Wonderboy to Brown, Magny to Baczynski, and so on — but Almeida better start shoring up his defensive holes ASAP. Hopefully this first loss is a wake-up call for him because he’s still got big potential down the line. Brazil went 0-4 tonight, two weeks after they lost the heavyweight title. They’ve had better months, but this wasn’t one of them. Jeremy Stephens adjusted after a tough 1st round, had Renan Barao in all sorts of trouble in round 2, and then did just enough to win round 3 and spoil Barao’s UFC FW debut in an entertaining contest. While Barao is 29 years old, he’s got 38 pro fights under his belt, 11 years as a professional, and 3 really brutal beatings and strike absorption in the last …

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