UFC Bantamweight Champion Cody Garbrandt Seeking “Biggest Money Fight”

Newly minted UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt is the new face of the men’s 135-pound division. Following his successful victory over former reigning champion Dominick Cruz, Garbrandt is now seeking the “biggest money fight” in 2017.

In a recent appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Garbrandt expressed his thoughts on who he would like to fight next in the New Year. According to Garbrandt, neither a rematch with Cruz, nor a fight with his former Team Alpha Male teammate T.J. Dillashaw is the first thing on his mind.

Garbrandt is currently thinking bigger, meaning the “biggest money fight” available for him in the UFC.

He said,

I need to sit down with Dana [White] and Sean [Shelby], and find out the biggest money fight for me, I know I could go up and fight with Jose Aldo. He has wins over my teammates, he’s a legend, and I’d like to test his chin. I know I hit hard, and I’m just getting started. And I could also have the biggest fight with Conor [McGregor]. I could easily go up. My homie Nate Diaz choked him out, and I can’t believe he’s pound-for-pound No. 2 on the list, with, you know he got choked out.

At the moment, there’s a lot of fights for Garbrandt in the bantamweight division, but the heavy hitter is seeking bigger and better things with names such as Jose Aldo or Conor McGregor.

Yeah, whatever benefits me. I’m the champ. I’m the champ. I just went out there and beat one of the best pound-for-pounds, who’s been on the pound-for-pound [list] for however long now. I want the biggest draw. I think Jose Aldo…I want the biggest challenge. I’m in this sport to challenge myself. I just beat Dominick handily, and I’m ready for a bigger challenge. I think Jose Aldo is tough, I respect him, but I want to test his chin. I know I hit like a Mack Truck. Like I said, I’m just getting started, just getting comfortable.

And you know, Conor, too. He knows that I’d go up to 150 and catchweight with him. Jose Aldo I’ll go up to 45. But yeah. I’m excited for the potential match-ups for me. I feel like I’m one of the biggest draws. I’m the biggest draw for Conor in the division, you know what I mean? I’m a rising star. Jose Aldo needs a fight. I think that he went out there and said that he’d like to fight me too.

Garbrandt, 25, has an undefeated professional MMA record. At UFC 207, He became champion, winning the fight by unanimous decision, dropping Cruz on multiple occasions and nearly finishing him in the fourth round. Both participants were awarded Fight of the Night for their performance.

Who do you think Garbrandt should face next? Let us know in the comment section below.