UFC 326 proved to be a good night for former bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt, a little vomit notwithstanding.
Although Garbrandt was hardly impressive, he did score a unanimous-decision win, in part, because opponent Xiao Long was penalized for repeated shots to the groin area. The most violent and distressing of the blows left Garbrandt barfing into a bucket inside the cage as officials allowed him to recover from the illegal strike.
Initially Garbrandt looked as though he was just catching his breath as he perched himself on both knees in the aftermath of the low blow. But when the official bent down towards him, Garbrandt quickly motioned to his corner, which then handed over a bucket.
The official managed to get the bucket in position in time, thereby avoiding a mess in the octagon.
But Long wasn’t done there.
When the bout restarted, the Chinese-born fighter was deducted another point for a low knee and later angered Garbrandt by landing a punch after the final bell.
Garbrandt, a 34-year-old Ohio native, discussed his recovery from the low blows with Full Send MMA.
‘When the crowd is chanting “USA, USA” you can’t b**** out,’ he said. ‘As painful as it was, I was spinning, throwing up, I didn’t know how much time was left in that round.
‘I got to get back to my feet and rally from the crowd,’ he continued. ‘I got hit in the nuts again. I was just trying to get my rhythm. It was a weird fight. My mouth was so dry.
‘But being a veteran, being experienced in fighting, a lot of street fights don’t go your way… you kind of just got to stay calm, stay engaged. I looked over at my coaches and they told me to calm down because after that, I was ready to just stand in the f***ing middle [of the octagon] and bang.’
Garbrandt’s trainers warned him against being too aggressive with Long, instead advising their fighter to focus on preserving his victory on the cards.
‘They were like: “Get the win, stay smart,”‘ he said.
Once 11-0 in 2016, Garbrandt is just 4-7 over his last 11 fights.
