Cody Garbrandt says everything slows down when he’s inside the Octagon, but his emergence into the UFC spotlight has been anything but.

When Garbrandt squares off against Thomas Almeida in the main event of UFC Fight Night 88 on Sunday in Las Vegas, the 24-year-old will be in just his ninth professional bout - his fourth with the UFC and first at the top of a card.

Watch all the action LIVE on TSN5 beginning with the UFC Fight Night: Almeida vs. Garbrandt Pre-Fight Show at 7pm et/4pm pt and the main card kicking off at 9pm et/6pm pt.

Garbrandt was born and raised in Uhrichsville, Ohio and began training in boxing at the age of 15. He racked up a 32-1 amateur boxing record before his first professional mixed martial arts bout in 2009. Eight pro fights later he has seven knockouts under his belt.

He kicked off his UFC career with a third-round knockout of veteran Marcus Brimage, followed that up with a unanimous decision victory over Henry Briones - his only decision to date - and most recently made quick work of Augusto Mendes in a catchweight bout in February.

The turnaround is quick but Garbrandt isn’t one to wait around for the next big opportunity.

“[I] took some time to spend some time with my family and kind of reground myself and get refocused and got back into training right away, so I really didn’t take much time off of my February fight to get ready for the Almeida fight,” Garbrandt told TSN.ca. “I look at it as another fight. It’s a main event, big fight with a very high-caliber fighter.”

The bantamweight stars are off to similar starts in their UFC tenures. They are both undefeated and have dazzled crowds with devastating knockouts. However, their approach to victory is very different.

The seventh-ranked Almeida is lethally aggressive and knocks out opponents with spinning elbows and flying knees - he has one Fight of the Night and three consecutive Performance of the Night bonuses - while Garbrandt is a much more patient striker, relying on his counter abilities to get the job done.

“I feel like I’m one of the best counter fighters, definitely, in my division. I was actually more of a counter puncher in amateur boxing,” he said. “I have good offence, I have good movement, good reach, but yeah, I wouldn’t mind classifying myself more as a counter striker as well.”

“I kind of fight off instinct and try to play off the energy I feel in there, the vibes, what [my opponent] is doing, what he’s feeling. I can read his eyes. To be honest with you, when I’m in there I feel like things really slow down for me.”

Garbrandt isn’t worried about the flashy style of his opponent. He points to Almeida’s victory over Brad Pickett at UFC 189 in July 2015 as an example of the vulnerability that can come with being over-aggressive and over-confident.

Almeida defeated Pickett with the aforementioned flying knee 29 seconds into the second round, but he was caught over extending in the first round and knocked down twice, forcing a retreat and recovery.

“He’s going to come in aggressively and get knocked out, or he’s going to try the in and out, use his range, his inside kicks and try to get me to come in and he’ll counter as well, but he’s not as accurate as me,” Garbrandt said. “He strings his combos together good coming forward but he’s never fought a puncher like me. Pickett has some good boxing, but it’s not on my level and you see what he did to him.”

A win would prove monumental for both young stars, but Garbrandt doesn’t need to be told that.

“This might be the biggest fight to date, but I’m not looking into it too much,” Garbrandt told TSN.ca. “For me it’s just another fight and it’s who was placed in front of me to get to the title and that’s what I got to go through to get that. I’m more than happy to knock this guy out and continue my crusade to the title.”