Forgive Cody Garbrandt for not wanting to engage in a firefight with Trevin Jones. All the former UFC bantamweight champion was looking for was a win.
Patience was the name of the game for Garbrandt (13-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC) on Saturday night at 285 as he took a smart approach to earn a unanimous decision win over Jones (13-10 MMA, 1-4 UFC), who performed as though the moment was too big for him. All three judges scored the fight 29-28 in favor of Garbrandt.
The bantamweight bout closed out the UFC 285 preliminary card at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
It was a much-needed victory for Garbrandt, who’s been reeling ever since losing the 135-pound title to rival T.J. Dillashaw five-and-half years ago at UFC 217.
Garbrandt, coming off the longest layoff of his career at 488 days, hadn’t competed since a December 2021 TKO loss to Kai Kara-France at UFC 269, the fourth time he’d been knocked out in his previous six bouts, so throwing caution to the wind against Jones wasn’t what he aimed to do. That much was clear early on.
In Round 1, Garbrandt started out landing hard kicks to the body. He had the crowd behind him as chants of “Cody! Cody! Cody!” rang out in the early going. Garbrandt looked comfortable in the cage despite his long layoff, landing more frequently and effectively in the first five minutes. The surprise was Jones’ hesitance to pressure Garbrandt, something he said he would do in the lead up.
The same tempo continued in Round 2 until Garbrant perfectly timed a takedown. Jones briefly caught him in a guillotine choke attempt, but Garbrandt quickly popped hi head out. Garbrandt worked to Jones’ back and at one point sunk in a rear-naked choke, but Jones was able to fend it off. It was another round that clearly went to Garbrandt.
Garbrandt seemed to hit cruise control in the third round, which put him in a little bit of trouble when Jones landed his best punch of the fight, a hard right hand, that stunned his opponent. Still, it was too little too late for Jones, who lost his fourth fight in a row.
Up-to-the-minute UFC 285 results include:
- Cody Garbrandt def. Trevin Jones via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Dricus Du Plessis def. Derek Brunson via TKO (corner stoppage) – Round 2, 4:59
- Amanda Ribas def. Viviane Araujo via unanimous decision (29-27, 30-26, 30-27)
- Marc-Andre Barriault def. Julian Marquez via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 4:12
- Ian Garry def. Song Kenan via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 4:22
- Cameron Saaiman def. Mana Martinez via majority decision (29-26, 29-27, 28-28)
- Tabatha Ricci def. Jessica Penne via submission (armbar) – Round 2, 2:14
- Farid Basharat def. Da’Mon Blackshear via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Loik Radzhabov def. Esteban Ribovics via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 285.
