Tommy Gantt Chases 13-0 at Noche UFC With Cormier in His Corner

Tommy Gantt is 12-0 with one no-contest, riding an eight-fight win streak, and he still walks out of most training sessions convinced he did everything wrong. That's the daily reality of prepping under Daniel Cormier at The Academy in Gilroy, California — a room where the two-division champ and his coaching staff hand out critique first and praise a distant second.

On Saturday, Gantt gets his second UFC assignment, taking on Drakkar Klose at Noche UFC inside Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona. The 33-year-old North Carolina State wrestler and Contender Series grad enters the weekend unbeaten, but he's honest about camp: by his own count, he had maybe two days where the feedback wasn't brutal.

The Debut That Set the Table

Gantt's first Octagon walk didn't go according to plan — and it still went perfectly. Originally booked against veteran Trey Ogden, he got a late switch to undefeated Ukrainian prospect Artur Minev, who was 7-0 at the time and, in Gantt's words, melting people.

None of that rattled him. As a lifelong wrestler used to facing whoever's on the other side of the bracket, Gantt rolled with the change and rolled through Minev, sealing a TKO midway through the second round. That win pushed him to 12-0 with one no-contest and stretched his streak to eight.

Minev, now 7-1 with four KOs and two submissions on his ledger, was no soft touch — and Gantt says he only appreciated how dangerous the 22-year-old was after the fact, when he finally went back and studied the tape he'd deliberately avoided beforehand.

Cormier's Report Card

Even after a clean finish, Cormier wasn't quick to gush. Gantt says the critiques came, just not immediately — his coaches always find something to fix. But the message that mattered was simpler: go home, take a vacation, reset with family, and come back ready when it's time to work again.

That's a notable shift from the constant "you gotta do this" grind Gantt describes during camp. He clearly thrives on it. The confidence-killing feedback loop is the point — by the time fight night arrives, nothing an opponent throws at him feels new.

The Corner Behind the Corner

Cormier gets top billing, but Gantt leans just as heavily on former WSOF two-weight champ David Branch. Branch retired with a 22-13 breakdown across 29 pro starts — 13 of those wins by finish, most against high-level opposition — and he's a Renzo Gracie black belt who's operated at the top of the sport.

Inside the gym, Gantt calls him a wizard on the technical side. Outside it, Branch is the calming presence during fight week, sharing what they've nicknamed the War Room and keeping Gantt grounded with scripture before bed. For a fighter still finding his footing at this level, having someone who's already summited is no small edge.

What Saturday Means

A win over Klose keeps the perfect record intact at 13-0 and starts building the case that Gantt is more than a well-coached prospect. He's got the wrestling base, a finish already on his UFC résumé, and one of the deepest brain trusts in the sport signing off on his work.

Lightweight is a shark tank, and nobody climbs it on hype alone. But two clean UFC wins in a row against live opponents — one of them a former unbeaten prospect — would put Gantt firmly on the radar in a division that always needs fresh names. First, though, he has to get past Klose. And if the training-room grading curve is anything to go by, he's ready for far worse than that.