Cody Michael Gibson (born September 11, 1987) is an American

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorp ...

who formerly competed in the

Bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In mixed martial arts, MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class is derived from Ba ...

division of the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

and last competed in

Eagle FC Eagle Fighting Championship (EFC), commonly referred to as Eagle FC, is a Russian mixed martial arts promotion company established in 2020 by former UFC Lightweight Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. It was renamed to Eagle Fighting Championship (EFC ...

Background

Born in

Blackwell, Oklahoma Blackwell is a city in Kay County, Oklahoma, United States, located at the intersection of U.S. Highway 177 and State Highway 11 along Interstate 35 (exit #222). The population was 7,092 at the 2010 census and 6,085 in the 2020 Census. Blackwel ...

, in 1987, Gibson and his brother Keith were adopted in 1989 and moved west, settling in the small town of

Visalia, California Visalia ( ) is a city in the agricultural San Joaquin Valley of California. The population was 141,384 as per the 2020 census. Visalia is the fifth-largest city in the San Joaquin Valley, the 42nd most populous in California, and 192nd in ...

. As an adult, Gibson found out through social media that he has also a sister and met his biological parents for the first time in 2018. After a standout high school wrestling career at Mount Whitney High School, Gibson went on to wrestle at Bakersfield College and Menlo College where he was a two time JC All American finishing 2nd at the California JUCO state championships.

Mixed martial arts career

Regional circuit

While home for the summer during college, Cody's friend invited him to a mixed martial arts gym in Exeter, California, to give it a try. He quickly found out that he enjoyed fighting and took his first professional fight only a few weeks after beginning training. Over the course of the next two years, Cody, still wrestling in college, would take a total of three professional fights, despite not having been trained extensively in any discipline other than wrestling. Still, he managed to begin his MMA career with a 3–0 start. After graduating from college, Cody had a lot of regrets about not meeting his potential as a college wrestler. Upon moving back to Visalia, California, he found a local gym called Elite Team Visalia under head coach, judo and jiu-jitsu black belt Tom Knox. Over the next several years, Cody fought on the local circuit while learning the arts of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay thai, and boxing. He fought on shows such as Porterville, California's The Warriors Cage, Lemoore, California's Tachi Palace Fights, and made appearances for Nick Diaz's foray into promoting show called WAR MMA as well as for AXSTV's Titan Fighting Championship.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

In February 2014, riding a six-fight win streak, Gibson was signed by the UFC as a short-notice replacement to fight fellow newcomer

Aljamain Sterling Aljamain Antoine Sterlinghttp://boxing.nv.gov/uploadedFiles/boxingnvgov/content/results/2014_Results/02-22-14MMA.pdf (born July 31, 1989) is a Jamaican-American mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Bantamweight division in the Ul ...

on February 22, 2014 at UFC 170. Gibson lost the fight via unanimous decision. Gibson faced

Johnny Bedford John Charles "Johnny" Bedford (born January 6, 1983) is an American retired mixed martial artist and bare knuckle boxer. A professional since 2003, he has fought in the UFC, Bellator, the Legacy Fighting Alliance, and was a competitor on Spike ...

on June 28, 2014 at

UFC Fight Night 44 ''UFC Fight Night: Swanson vs. Stephens'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 44'') was a mixed martial arts event held at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. Background The event was the first that the organization has hosted in San Antonio. Zu ...

, replacing an injured

Rani Yahya Rani Ahmad Yahya (born September 12, 1984) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and BJJ practitioner. He won the 66 kg division of the prestigious ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship in April 2007. He currently fights in t ...

. Gibson won the fight via TKO 38 seconds into the first round. Gibson faced

Manvel Gamburyan Manvel Gamburyan ( hy, Մանվել Գամբուրյան; born May 8, 1981) is an Armenian mixed martial artist who has competed in the UFC's lightweight, featherweight, and bantamweight divisions. A professional competitor since 1999, he was a c ...

on September 27, 2014 at

UFC 178 ''UFC 178: Johnson vs. Cariaso'' was a mixed martial arts event held on September 27, 2014, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Background The event was supposed to be headlined by a UFC Light Heavyweight Championship rematch bet ...

. Gibson lost the fight via submission in the second round Gibson faced

Douglas Silva de Andrade Douglas Silva de Andrade (born June 22, 1985) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who currently competes in Bantamweight (MMA), Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Background Silva de Andrade grew up in Castanhal, ...

on February 22, 2015 at

UFC Fight Night 61 ''UFC Fight Night: Bigfoot vs. Mir'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 61'') was a mixed martial arts event held on February 22, 2015, at the Ginásio Gigantinho in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Background The event was the first that the UFC has hosted ...

. He lost the fight by unanimous decision and was subsequently released from the promotion.

Post-UFC career

In April 2016 Gibson made his return to the cage after a year off due to injury. Gibson defeated Justin Linn by unanimous decision at The Warriors Cage: Showdown. Gibson then went on to defeat Rolando Velasco to win the

Tachi Palace Fights Tachi Palace Fights (TPF) was an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion which hosted events at the Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino in Lemoore, California. Matchmaker for TPF was former fighter Richard Goodman. Regarded as a regional promotion, ...

Bantamweight title via unanimous decision at Tachi Palace, Lemoore, California, on May 19, 2016 in the 5 round main event at TPF27: Mayhem. In September 2016 it was announced that Gibson will defend his TPF championship against Kyle Reyes at Tachi Palace Fights 29 on November 3rd. Gibson won the fight by knock out in the second round. On May 18, 2017 Gibson vacated his Bantamweight title and moved up a weight class to fight Adrian Diaz for the TPF Featherweight Championship. He lost the fight via third round submission and retired afterwards.

Return from retirement

On September 28th, 2018, Gibson fought in the main event for Legacy Fighting Alliance against Gustavo Erak. He won the fight by unanimous decision. Gibson signed to participate in the Featherweight division of 2019 Professional Fighters League season. However, Gibson was sidelined with bicep and shoulder surgery and was not able to compete. Gibson was scheduled to face John Dodson on July 30, 2021 at XMMA 2. Dodson unfortunately pulled out of the fight due to being involved in a car accident. Canadian prospect Louie Sanoudakis took his place. Gibson won the fight by knock out in just 44 seconds. The bout with Dodson was rescheduled to take place at XMMA 3 on October 23, 2021. Gibson won the fight by unanimous decision. Gibson faced Ray Borg on January 28, 2022 at Eagle FC 44: Spong vs. Kharitonov. He lost the bout via unanimous decision. Gibson faced fellow UFC veteran Francisco Rivera on November 19, 2022 at Up Next Fighting 3: Rivera vs. Gibson. He won the bout via third round submission with an arm triangle choke to become the first Up Next Fighting Bantamweight Champion.

Personal life

Aside from fighting, Gibson is a U.S. History and economics teacher. He has two daughters.

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts

** TPF Bantamweight Championship (one time; current) ***One successful title defense *Up Next Fighting **UNF Bantamweight Champion (one time; current; first)

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 19–8 , Francisco Rivera , Submission (arm-triangle choke) , UNF 3: Rivera vs. Gibson , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 2:42 ,

Commerce, California Commerce is a city located in southeast Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 12,823 at the 2010 census, up from 12,568 at the 2000 census. It is usually referred to as the City of Commerce to distinguish it from the ...

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Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

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Greenville, South Carolina Greenville (; locally ) is a city in and the seat of Greenville County, South Carolina, United States. With a population of 70,720 at the 2020 census, it is the sixth-largest city in the state. Greenville is located approximately halfway be ...

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Fresno, California Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, makin ...

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Lemoore, California Lemoore (formerly, La Tache and Lee Moore's) is a city in Kings County, California, United States. Lemoore is located west-southwest of Hanford, at an elevation of . It is part of the Hanford-Corcoran Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA Code 2 ...

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Porterville, California Porterville is a city in the San Joaquin Valley, in Tulare County, California, Tulare County, California, United States. It is part of the Visalia Metropolitan Area, Visalia-Porterville metropolitan statistical area. Since its incorporation in 1 ...

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Porto Alegre Porto Alegre (, , Brazilian ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of 1,488,252 inhabitants (2020) makes it the List of largest cities in Brazil, twelfth most populous city in the country ...

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Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

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UFC 170 ''UFC 170: Rousey vs. McMann'' was a mixed martial arts held on February 22, 2014, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event was released on DVD on May 27, 2014. The DVD was distributed by ''Anchor Bay Entertainment''. Ba ...

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 10–3 , Chad George , Submission (guillotine choke) , TWC 18 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:37 ,

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Stockton, California Stockton is a city in and the county seat of San Joaquin County, California, San Joaquin County in the Central Valley (California), Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. Stockton was founded by Carlos Maria Weber in 1849 after he acquir ...

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Kansas City, Kansas Kansas City, abbreviated as "KCK", is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas, and the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is an inner suburb of the older and more populous Kansas City, Missouri, after which it is named. As of ...

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. , - , Win , align=center, 6–3 , Justin Santistevan , Submission (guillotine choke) , EFWC - The Untamed 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:03 ,

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most p ...

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Flyweight Flyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Flyweight is a class in boxing which includes fighters weighing above 49 kg (108 lb) and up to 51 kg (112 lb). Professional boxing The flyweight division was the last of bo ...

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Casey Olson Casey Olson is a retired American mixed martial arts fighter. A professional from 2005 until 2012, he fought in the WEC, Strikeforce, and Tachi Palace Fights promotions. Background Olson attended Clovis High School, where he was a two-time cap ...

, Decision (unanimous) , Tachi Palace Fights 12: Second Coming , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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Ulysses Gomez Ulysses Gomez (Los Angeles, May 25, 1983) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the flyweight and bantamweight divisions. A professional MMA competitor since 2007, Gomez has mostly fought in PFC and Tachi Palace Fights and is also k ...

, Submission (guillotine choke) , TPF 11: Redemption , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 2:43 ,

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Walel Watson Walel Watson (born July 17, 1984) is an American mixed martial artist. A professional since 2008, he has fought in the UFC, Titan FC, and Tachi Palace Fights. MMA career Watson made his professional debut in 2008 for MMA Xtreme in Mexico at t ...

, TKO (punches and elbows) , TPF 9: The Contenders , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:09 ,

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, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 3–1 , David Bollea , Submission (armlock) , TPF 5: Stars and Strikes , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 0:31 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Ray Cervera , Decision (unanimous) , TPF 2: Brawl in the Hall , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Billy Terry , TKO (punches) , GC 81 - Lights Out , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:58 ,