Central Coast mixed martial artist, Cody "The Renegade" Gibson appeared in the season 31 finale of The Ultimate Fighter on ESPN as a part of Team Chandler.
The 35-year-old bantamweight made headlines earlier in the season after defeating Team McGregor’s Mando Gutierrez in the quarterfinal round thanks to a flying knee that resulted in a TKO win.
In the season finale, Gibson squared off against Rico Disciullo for a shot to fight Brad Katona in this week’s UFC 292 in Boston.
Despite a lingering knee issue, it was the wrestling background of Gibson from his days at Menlo College that proved to be his biggest ally.
Winning by submission in the first round, Gibson punched his ticket to the TD Garden.
On Saturday, Aug. 19, Gibson will make his official UFC return. His last fight for the promotional group was back in February of 2015.
However, Gibson hasn’t been out of the fight game completely since then.
He’s fought on multiple cards for smaller promotional groups amassing almost 30 total fights in his professional MMA career. In that time, Gibson has never been knocked out once.
Gibson is originally from Visalia, California but now resides on the Central Coast teaching middle school P.E. in Atascadero as his full-time day job.
In a pre-fight press conference ahead of his fight with Katona here's what Gibson had to say in regards to the future of his UFC career:
"I'm 35 years old and there's no way I'm going to be here five years from now. I'm just trying to enjoy life while it lasts. Usually fighters aren't given this much time or notice for when they're going to fight so I'm just try[ing] to take advantage of that and just proud of the work we put in and ready to cash in the chips, so to speak."
UFC 292 is headlined by the title match between Aljamain Sterling and "Sugar" Sean O'Malley. Gibson and Katona will square off in the prelims with the winner earning a contract with the UFC.
