On This Day Three Years Ago…
[ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 5, 2018, 9:00 PM]
Cody Garbrandt had never felt the sting of defeat in his professional MMA career prior to dropping the bantamweight championship to T.J. Dillashaw at UFC 217.
Garbrandt took defeat hard; but heading into UFC 227, he considered himself wiser and stronger through that experience:
“I learned a lot – that God puts you through these kinds of things to grow as a human and grow as a fighter,” Garbrandt told UFC.com leading into UFC 227. “I felt grateful for the life experience and things I had from the November fight in Madison Square Garden.
And there’s a newfound respect for being a fighter, and getting back to the top, and reclaiming that title.”
Sadly for Cody Garbrandt, he was unsuccessful in this venture and lost for the second straight time to nemesis T.J. Dillashaw at UFC 227, getting knocked out in the very first round. In Garbrandt’s first statement after this loss, he published a post on Instagram that stated he felt blessed, even in the aftermath of another disappointment. However, there are no such posts from the past to visit today, nor will there be in the immediate future. Brett Okamoto of ESPN has disclosed a conversation with Cody Gabrandt where the former bantamweight champion told him that he deactivated all of his social media accounts to “detatch” in order to get “back into the zone:”
Cody Garbrandt has deactivated his social media accounts for now. Told me he wanted to detach, and that he's getting back in the zone.
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) September 5, 2018
Prior to UFC 227, Cody Garbrandt made it clear just what the rematch against Dillashw and, more to the point, being a champion meant to him:
“It’d mean everything for me to reclaim my bantamweight championship,” Garbrandt said in an interview with UFC.com. “I didn’t get in this sport just to be a UFC fighter, an average fighter. I got into this sport to be the best in the world.”
Having those dreams diminished after having already reached them is something Garbrandt was able to climb back from before, and he is now taking the time away from the outside noise to look to do it once more.
Do you believe Cody Garbrandt will ever become a champion in the UFC again?
