By Josh Gibson
Special to the Sun-Gazette
Lemoore – It was a full circle moment for Woodlake High School teacher Cody Gibson as he claimed the Tachi Palace Fights Bantamweight championship of the world when he defeated Oakdale’s Rolando Velasco by unanimous decision at Tachi Palace Fights 27: Mayhem Thursday night.
Visalia’s Gibson, known by his nickname “The Renegade,” started his career in the Central Valley area having seven of his first eleven fights under the Tachi Palace fights banner. After success on the regional scene, Gibson became the first fighter from Visalia to be signed by the Ultimate Fighting Championship. While in the UFC, Gibson picked up a 38 second knockout victory over Johnny Bedford before a pair of losses saw his exit from the promotion.
Taking a year off from his last UFC performance due to injury, Gibson came back earlier this year with a unanimous decision win over Justin Linn in The Warriors Cage organization. This win set him up for his Tachi Palace Fights championship match with Velasco.
In what many are calling a Fight of the Year candidate, Gibson and Velasco fought back and forth for five rounds with neither man backing down an inch. Velasco started off strong, using a solid counter striking game and garnering a takedown to win the first round. Gibson came back and took the second round, landing the cleaner and harder strikes. The third round was a close of a round as you can have, but Gibson just edged it with his pressured attack.
After accidental eye pokes in the first and fourth rounds, Gibson was deducted a point. Knowing the fight was close Gibson came out swinging and tore into Velasco for the duration of the remaining two rounds, throwing strikes with reckless abandon. After the judge’s tally, Gibson was awarded unanimous 48-46 scorecards and the Tachi Palace Fights Bantamweight championship.
“It’s nice, this is full circle for me,” Gibson said of winning the Tachi Palace Fights championship. “I started my career here at the Tachi Palace. Richard Goodman (TPF matchmaker) told me after my 3rd pro fight that someday I would be a champion, and I thought well if he believes in me then maybe it’s true.”
Gibson is expected to return to the cage sometime before the end of the year.
Other Results
Adrian Diaz defeated Andres Quintana by TKO to win the TPF featherweight title.
Jared Papazian defeated Alex Perez by submission.
Angel Deanda defeated Justin Baesman by TKO.
Evan Solorio defeated Armando Perez by TKO.
Richard Parra defeated Trey Branch by TKO.
Kyle Reyes defeated Stephen Cervantes by submission.
Sergio Quinones defeated Adam Calderon by submission
Casey Kenney defeated Angel Hernandez by submission.
