On this present day in 2023, a fan stepped as much as the plate and delivered for the UFC.
Dana White has recently defended the UFC’s matchmaking after among the promotion’s announcements were criticized.
There are some big fights lined up for 2026 but there was a debate around several of them as as to whether they’re the proper matchups to make.
While White regretted letting fans vote for bonuses back in 2010, the UFC did give one lucky spectator the possibility to get entangled with the promotion two years ago.
The fan, who was announced to have been hired by the UFC, didn’t wait long in any respect before making his first mark on the MMA leader’s plans.
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You might be Dana White for the day, what’s the one change you’d make to the UFC?
UFC contest-winner booked Cody Garbrandt a fight at UFC 296 after Dana White hired him
In 2023, the UFC put together a ‘Matchmaker For A Day’ competition that fans could enter by submitting fantasy picks for his or her dream fight card.
The winner was a person named Joe Reeves, who Dana White announced shortly after can be sticking around for for much longer than a day.
“You wish to know the way f—— good Joe is? I just hired Joe,” White said at a post-event press conference via MMA Junkie. “Joe works for us now. This f—— kid is awesome… He’s a f—— UFC lunatic. He went toe to toe with the boys today.”
White also went on to disclose that Reeves didn’t wait long before putting his first fight together after talking to a member of the roster on the Performance Institute.
Cody Garbrandt can have defeated Dominick Cruz in spectacular fashion to win the bantamweight title in 2016, but his profession was in a really different place heading into UFC 296.
White told the media how Garbrandt had asked Reeves to book him in December, which got here to fruition when he was matched with Brian Kelleher for UFC 296, which took place on this present day in 2023.
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Joe Reeves is answerable for booking Cody Garbrandt’s most up-to-date win
Cody Garbrandt facing Brian Kelleher wasn’t precisely the form of matchup that had fans counting down the times however it was an excellent step for the previous bantamweight champion on the time.
After a choice win over Trevin Jones on his return to the division, it was Garbrandt’s first round knockout against Kelleher that had fans believing he was working his way back.
Unfortunately, his next fight was quite the other of his matchup at UFC 296, with ‘No Love’ being booked to face Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 300.
He suffered a submission loss to the previous flyweight champion before being beaten by Raoni Barcelos earlier this 12 months.
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