Fortunes changed for five at UFC Fight Night 88

When Cody Garbrandt and Thomas Almeida were announced for the main event for Sunday’s UFC Fight Night, is was something of a shock. It’s not that neither hadn’t looked strong, as you had two young unbeaten fighters who looked like down the line they would be potential contenders. But neither had ever headlined a UFC event. And they were booked on top of a match that included Renan Barao’s move to featherweight. Barao was the former bantamweight champion who has headlined three pay-per-view shows and at one time was seriously talked about as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the sport. Jeremy Stephens, his opponent, had been with UFC for nearly nine years and had beaten major names like Rafael dos Anjos and Dennis Bermudez. Plus, stylistically, and it turned out to be the case, Stephens vs. Barao looked to be a great fight. Almeida was the one with most of the hype. He was 21-0, one of the best records of anyone on the roster. He was ranked No. 7 in the bantamweight division and people were talking about the 24-year-old Brazilian as one of the rising stars of the sport. Aljamain Sterling and Bryan Caraway were put on the Fight Pass prelims, and they were ranked No. 4 and No. 8 , respectively, in the same division. Of all the fighters on the show, Sterling was the one who looked like he was closest to a title shot. Garbrandt, while clearly someone to watch, hadn’t even cracked the top 15 in the division. But part of the job of matchmaking has to do with creation of new stars. Had Garbrandt knocked Almeida out lower on the television show, or on Fight Pass, while people would have still taken notice because he looked fast and powerful, his win wouldn’t be the last thing on the show, and be the show’s most lasting impression. The 23-year-old Garbrandt’s first-round knockout and willingness to promote himself Sunday night made him go from unranked to someone who isn’t far from a title shot. It would be hard to have any better of a showing in a main event. If people didn’t know Garbrandt before, at the very least, everyone who saw the show knows him and thinks he’s somebody, no matter where in the top 15 he ends up. “I’m thankful they trusted me,” Garbrandt said about being put in the main event spot. “It was a stacked card. There were my idols fighting on the card.” Garbrandt and Almeida may have gotten the nod over the higher ranked bantamweights because they were expected to deliver fireworks. With a Sterling fight, it was expected to be more wrestling-oriented. “I want top-five fights and I truly believe that’s where I’m at,” he said. Garbrandt mentioned no names in specific, only that he wanted to fight on UFC 203 in Cleveland, since he grew up an hour and 20 minutes away from the Quicken Loans Arena, where the show is taking place. “I was fighting a 21-0 guy who ran through everyone and I knocked him out in less than three minutes,” he said. “Let …

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