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Former UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt endured a tough phase in his career between 2017 and 2021.
Garbrandt lost three straight fights, followed by two more after a lone victory sandwiched between the losses against Raphael Assuncao. The defeats included two title fights against T.J. Dillashaw and some fighting performances despite the results.
Garbrandt reflected on the difficult time in an interview with ESPN MMA's Marc Raimondi. 'No Love' stated that his mental health also took a toll and he was not able to focus:
"I think I go back to those fights and where I was at mentally, sometimes physically, definitely emotionally. And there’s fights that I didn’t care what happened. You know, I couldn’t care less of the outcome. You win? Awesome. You lose? Okay, I was just not, you know, the best word for it – I just wasn’t in there. I was engaged in what I need to do inside the Octagon. It was hard for me to put away the things that I didn’t even need to be."
Cody Garbrandt also listed the various factors that play a part when competing inside the octagon:
"You know, that’s when everything comes out. Your fears, you dreams, your everything inside that octagon. Why a man’s across from you, trying to steal everything from you. There’s just so many emotions that are inside that octagon and leading up to it, you know? So it’s all on full display. And you feel it. You feel it. The mental battle inside your head that you need to get your head out of the lane. You throw more jabs, you need to push harder. In the second and third round, all those things come to light."
Cody Garbrandt envisions future matchup with bantamweight champion Sean O'Malley
Cody Garbrandt has managed to bounce back in 2023 with two successive wins after five losses in his previous six fights.
He aims to challenge for the title once again in the near future against UFC star Sean O'Malley. In his interview with ESPN MMA, he mentioned that the fight would be a commercial success and also alluded to their history.
The two had a verbal clash prior to UFC 269.
Garbrandt said:
"I think a crash course with Sean [O'Malley] is definitely in the near future. A money fight, that's what this is all about. What is going to bring the most eyes to these fights. Sean and I have history, I would love to just go smack him around."
Check out Cody Garbrandt's comments below (25:16):
