Former bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt made his flyweight debut against Kai Kara-France at tonight’s UFC 269 event.
Garbrandt (12-5 MMA) had made the decision to test the waters at 125lbs following his unanimous decision loss to Rob Font back in May. That setback was Cody’s fourth in his past five fights, with three of those defeats coming via knockout.
Meanwhile, Kai Kara-France (23-9 MMA) was coming off a knockout win over Rogerio Bontorin in his most previous effort at UFC 259. Prior to that, the Kiwi had suffered a submission loss to Brand Royval. Kai was ranked seventh in the flyweight division prior to tonight’s affair.
Tonight’s flyweight contest resulted in another nasty knockout loss for Cody Garbrandt. After a back and forth opening couple of minutes, Kai Kara-France was able to drop ‘No Love’ with a big punch. Cody quickly got back to his feet only to get dropped again. The former bantamweight champion continued to fight back he was clearly badly hurt. Eventually Kara-France put Garbrandt away with a final combination that left him face first on the canvas (see that here).
Official UFC 269 Result: Kai Kara-France def. Cody Garbrandt via KO at 3:51 of Round 1
The loss marked Cody’s fifth in his past six fights overall and spawned some harsh reactions from fellow fighters.
Shortly following the conclusion of tonight’s event in Las Vegas, ‘No Love’ took to social media where he shared the following post.
“Love you to buddy ♥️ #MyWorld” – Garbrandt captioned a photo of his child watching his UFC 269 introduction.
Who would you like to see Cody Garbrandt fight next following his knockout loss Kai Kara-France at tonight’s UFC 269 event in Las Vegas? Share your thoughts in the comment section PENN Nation!