Cody Garbrandt suffered three low blows, causing him to vomit in the Octagon, but still walked away with a much-needed win over Xiao Long in theUFC 326featured prelim.
Following a fairly competitive opening round, Xiao began to take over in the second, leaning on his calf kicks that had Garbrandt’s lead leg compromised early. Attempting to mitigate the lower-body attacks, Garbrandt looked to land a takedown in the round. Unfortunately, Xiao lowered his head in an attempt to defend, causing ‘No Love’ to drive his head directly into Xiao’s cheek.
Luckily, Xiao didn’t sustain any serious damage, allowing the fight to continue with minimal pause.
Early in the third, Garbrandt sustained an accidental low blow that brought the bout to another brief stop. ‘No Love’ was good to go after a few moments, but almost as soon as the fight started, Xiao would land an even more brutal kick to Garbrandt’s groin.
The incident had Garbrandt vomiting in theOctagon. Despite that, the former bantamweight king recovered and came out ready to take Xiao’s head off — but not before referee Herb Dean deducted a point from Xiao.
Garbrandt came out looking toclinchup, prompting Xiao to throw a knee against the fence that landed in Garbrandt’s groin. That resulted in another pause and another point being taken from the Chinese standout.
With the point deductions, Garbrandt was determined to protect his lead as Xiao ramped up the aggression. That led to a lackluster final round, but a sure-fire win for the American.
Official Result:Cody Garbrandtdef.Xiao Longvia unanimous decision (28-27, 28-27, 28-27).
This fight is INSANE 😭Cody Garbrandt got kicked in the nuts, started vomiting in the cage, then charged at Xiao Long when the fight resumed… only to get kneed in the groin AGAIN 💀#UFC326pic.twitter.com/PxeMkRif1B
Cody Garbrandt wins via getting hit multiple times in the ballshilarious start to the ufc on cbs era#ufc326pic.twitter.com/azevc2DynJ
Source: LowKickMMA.com
