Former UFC Bantamweight Contender Gets Brutal Reality Check From One-Armed Striker
In a recent combat sports crossover, ONE Championship standout Jake Peacock brutally ended the Muay Thai debut of 15-fight UFC veteran Cody Stamann.
Former UFC veteran Cody Stamann finished his MMA career with a 22ā€“8ā€“1 record, including 15 fights in the UFC where he went 7ā€“7ā€“1. What made his run so impressive was his durability. Across 31 total MMA fights, the 37-year-old former bantamweight was never knocked out once.
He stepped into a completely new sport on Saturday, shifting his focus to traditional Muay Thai. Without his wrestling pedigree and ground game, Stamann had to stand and trade strikes with Jake Peacock, a lifelong Muay Thai specialist. But the UFC veteran likely never expected to lose via a stunning first-round knockout.
Jake Peacock Stops Cody Stamann Inside One Round at MMT 11
The 33-year-old Peacock, a British-Canadian striker born without a lower right arm, stopped Stamann in the very first round of their main event match at the Masonic Temple in Detroit. Stamann simply could not beat the referee's 10-count. Peacock broke down his defense right away by blasting his lead leg with heavy calf kicks, which took away the veteran's movement and ruined his boxing range.
After the fight, Peacock admitted he wanted a quick finish so Stamann wouldn't have time to get comfortable and read his timing. While he respected the ex-UFC fighter's past accomplishments, he made the gap in their striking skills very clear.
"Big respect for Cody, he's accomplished so much," Peacock said. "There are levels to striking... and I am the level up there."
Stamann had actually spoken highly of the sport before the event. At the pre-fight press conference, he told reporters that pure striking felt much easier on the body than grinding through MMA camps.
"Without this sounding arrogant, is easier on your body , I feel," Stamann said.
However, Peacock's deep background in pure striking rules proved to be too much. He is a ONE Championship veteran who beat Kohei Shinjo by unanimous decision in his ONE debut at ONE Friday Fights 58. He then stopped Shinji Suzuki in the third round at ONE 171 in Qatar, attacking Suzuki's thigh and calf early in that fight as well.
That relentless leg attack was the deciding factor in Detroit. In MMA fights, a fighter with damaged legs can always change levels, clinch, or shoot for a takedown to slow things down. But the strict rules of Muay Thai took all of those safety options away from Stamann, allowing Peacock to add pressure until he got the first-round finish.
