Cody Garbrandt endured another first-round TKO loss at UFC 329 in Las Vegas, succumbing to Adrian Yanez at 2:47. The defeat underscored Garbrandt's long-standing vulnerabilities: porous striking defense and a compromised chin. After an initial flurry, Yanez expertly countered, dropping the former champion with precise right hands. While referee Herb Dean has faced recent scrutiny for other bouts, this stoppage was widely regarded as clean and timely. Garbrandt, once an undefeated bantamweight king, now holds a 15-8 record, with most losses coming by finish. At 34, his recurring issues raise serious doubts about his career longevity, making retirement a distinct possibility. This decisive win, however, provides significant momentum for Yanez.
Cody Garbrandt still has two really big problems: his striking defense is nearly non-existent and his chin is still suspect. Both snakes bit him on Saturday night at UFC 329 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Let's talk MMA.
Garbrandt had his moment early, catching Yanez in a wild opening exchange that briefly turned the fight. It did not last.
Yanez settled, started countering with right hands in the middle of the chaos, and the accuracy gap showed immediately. He dropped Garbrandt and followed with punches until Herb Dean waved it off at 2:47 of the first round, a finish that closed the book on the former champion's night.
The defense was the story. Garbrandt walked into the same counters that have ended his last several bad nights, and Yanez, who fights with his own reckless disregard for return fire, simply landed first and landed cleaner.
This stoppage wasn’t too bad. Dean's name in a stoppage headline carries weight it did not carry a year ago. The veteran official has spent 2026 fielding criticism, and his last month has been rough.
At UFC Baku in late June, Dean repeatedly warned Shara Magomedov for hair-pulling and an eye poke against Michel Pereira without ever taking a point, a non-call that plausibly swung a unanimous decision. That came weeks after Alex Pereira accused him of allowing Ciryl Gane to land shots to the back of his head at UFC Freedom 250. I broke down why the criticism keeps finding him after the Baku card.
To be fair to Dean, this one looked clean. Garbrandt was hurt, the follow-up shots were landing flush, and the wave-off came before real damage accumulated. There is history here too, since Dean also worked Garbrandt’s March win over Xiao Long, deducting points twice for low blows. Garbrandt didn’t really complain after Dean’s decision, and that’s a major indicator of the validity of the ref’s decision.
It’s been a steep drop over the past 10 years. The 2016 version of Garbrandt was a monster. He outclassed Dominick Cruz to win the bantamweight title, running his record to 11-0 with the kind of hand speed that made him look like the division's future.
Nearly a decade later, he is 15-8 and has been finished in most of his losses. The March win over Xiao Long, an ugly decision he only survived because of repeated point deductions against a foul-happy opponent, was supposed to be a stylistic layup and instead exposed how much is gone. Saturday confirmed it in under three minutes.