The Former UFC bantamweight Champion Cody Garbandt has recently revealed that he lost his passion for fighting once he became the world champion at every young age.
Cody Garbrandt revealed he lost his passion for fighting right after he beat Dominick Cruz at UFC 207. Garbrandt became the bantamweight king after an impressive performance against Dominick Cruz back in December 2016 that saw him earn the unanimous decision victory. However, after that fight, Garbrandt went on to lose three straight fights all by KO and he says that was because he lost his passion for the sport.
“I was at that point in my career where like am I going to keep going half-heartedly in this because I kind of lost the passion for fighting,” Garbrandt said on Food Truck Diaries. “I felt like I was going through the motions. Honestly, after I won the world championship (I lost the passion).”
Why Garbrandt thinks he lost the passion was due to the fact he didn’t have another goal besides being the champion. Once he achieved it, he didn’t have anything else to strive for.
“I think I was so fixated on being a world champion and I got there,” Garbrandt said. “A lot of people were asking oh how is it? I was like, damn, it wasn’t what I thought it was going to be.”
After being knocked out by T.J. Dillashaw, twice, to lose his bantamweight title as well as be KO’d by Pedro Munhoz, the former champ had to re-find his passion for the sport. Cody Garbrandt ultimately did that after some time away and returned this past June with a highlight reel KO win over Raphael Assuncao at UFC 250.
Cody Garbrandt talks about his fighting future
Cody Garbrandt was anxious to build on his stunning knockout against Raphael Assuncao this past June until a series of health issues gave him the toughest fight of his career. After months of recovery, the Ohio native finally started feeling like himself again before the New Year. Now that he’s back in training, Cody Garbrandt is anxious to fight again.
“Finally, it’s been about a month and a half that I’ve felt I would say 100 percent, no symptoms,” Cody Garbrandt told MMA Fighting. “Feeling great that the stress that I’m putting on my body doing MMA and all the training that I’ve been doing, my body is retaining it well, holding well to the stress that I’ve been putting on it. I’m excited.”
“I’m targeting a fight with Jose Aldo in April – that’s what I’m shooting for,” Cody revealed. “I had the title fight at 125, I’m the next in line, but they have to do the rematch. I’m not going to sit and wait eight months. It’s not something I want to do. So I feel like staying at 135 and fighting Jose Aldo will be a great matchup. It’s a fight a lot of fans can get behind.
“I feel my best performances are in front of me, so why not challenge yourself with a Jose Aldo? He’s still dangerous. He’s still there. He’s down in [my] weight class now. He’s coming off a win, I’m coming off a win. We’re both in the top five, so I think it’s the perfect fight to make.”
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