Sherdog’s Top 10: Greatest Bantamweights

8. Cody Garbrandt

Like many fighters on this list, Garbrandt looked to be one of the greatest ever when he first captured the title, but vastly underachieved relative to expectations, and quickly dropped from the elite. Possessing some of the best boxing the sport has ever seen, with lightning hand-speed and knockout power in both hands, on top of perfect takedown defense and an ability to get up with ease, Garbrandt was once considered almost unbeatable. He started out 11-0, including first round knockouts of Augusto Mendes, Thomas Almeida, and Takeya Mizugaki en route to a title shot. Then, he did the seemingly impossible, finally dethroning Dominick Cruz from his bantamweight throne two days before New Year's 2017, the first blemish of Cruz's career since a loss to Urijah Faber back in 2007 that we had mentioned in the previous entry. And there was no doubt either, as Garbrandt defended Cruz's takedowns and repeatedly hurt him with punches.

If you would have told anyone after this that Garbrandt would go 1-5 in his next 6 outings, four of those losses by knockout, you would have been laughed out of the room. Yet, that is exactly what happened; Garbrandt would be knocked out twice in a row by friend turned bitter enemy T.J. Dillashaw in bouts where Garbrandt was winning and had Dillashaw hurt early. Garbrandt's two major weaknesses were exposed in these encounters; poor fight IQ and a weak chin. Both would be exploited by iron-fisted Pedro Munhoz in Garbrandt's next fight, knocking out the recent champion in the first round. After an excellent second round knockout of long-time contender Raphael Assuncao, Garbrandt would fall again, being dominated by Rob Font for five rounds. Dropping down to flyweight was foolhardy, only exacerbating Garbrandt's weak chin and also reducing his speed advantage, and Garbrandt was knocked out in the first round by Kai Kara-France. While still only 31 years, it seems unlikely that Garbrandt will rise on such lists in the future, only fall. Which is quite sad, when one considers his amazing talents.

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