Tommy Gantt credits Daniel Cormier, David Branch after UFC contract win
DWCS 82 winner Tommy Gantt talks to MMA Junkie and other reporters after being awarded a UFC contract from Dana White for his submission victory
LAS VEGAS – Tommy Gantt had UFC veterans Daniel Cormier and David Branch by his side for his road to the octagon.
Gantt (11-0-1) submitted Adam Livingston (5-1) by first-round guillotine Tuesday at Dana White’s Contender Series 82 from the UFC Apex. The NCAA All-American wrestler earned a UFC contract for his quick finish.
Gantt sees several similarities between himself and UFC Hall of Famer Cormier.
“I think we relate to each other in the regard that he started a little bit late, kind of like I did, and just the wrestling background,” Gantt told MMA Junkie and other reporters on Tuesday. “It’s tough. We grew up in two similar backgrounds. He grew up in Lafayette, I grew up in St. Louis, two rough cities. It’s hard to make it out, and you just kind of keep that mentality and push it to something else, something positive like fighting. He just knows, easily relatable.”
Gantt has competed a whopping 12 times since April 2024, but can he keep up that incredible pace now that he’s a UFC fighter?
“I don’t know, man, that’s up to the team,” Gantt said with a laugh. “But that anonymous coach, he takes all the credit for that. He set that up. We’d literally hop in the car, we’d go to West Virginia, I fight Saturday. He’d be like, ‘All right, you’re going to be weighing in again Thursday.’ I’m like, ‘All right.’ I was going probably every week that summer, I want to say.”
