Cody Garbrandt Reflects On UFC Vegas 27 Loss: I Felt Like I Was Battling Myself In There
 |
| Mandatory Credit: Chris Unger - Zuffa LLC |
Former undisputed UFC bantamweight champion, Cody Garbrandt has reflected on his one-sided unanimous decision defeat to Rob Font at UFC Vegas 27 last Saturday -- detailing how he felt like he was having an internal battle with himself against the Massachusetts native.
Booked to meet with current flyweight champion, Deiveson Figueiredo in his divisional bow at UFC 255 in November last, Garbrandt was forced from the matchup after he suffered a bicep injury and contracted a debilitating case of COVID-19 in the lead up to the fight, which had since left him with lingering health issues such as vertigo, blood clots, and mental fog.
"Rob (Font) was the better man," Garbrandt said. "I felt like I was fighting myself in there, battling myself. I'm not taking anything away from him. Congrats to his camp, congrats to him."
Despite the defeat, which comes as his fourth in his last five Octagon walks, Garbrandt still has plans to claim another championship in the future, and maintains a lot of positives have come off the back of the loss.
"A lot of positives come from this," Garbrandt explained. "Brush it off. Get back with my coaches and teammates and we're still striving to be the best, to be world champion. Sometimes there's some adversity that comes along in your dreams and makes you work harder and makes you realise what needs to be done and it makes it that much sweeter when you climb up the mountain."
"It wasn't my night, but man I enjoy this," Garbrandt continued. "I'll correct my mistakes and ('I'm) just really thankful. ... I fight my heart out for you guys." (H/T MMA Junkie)
Garbrandt suffered a rather one-sided judging defeat to the #3 ranked, Font over the course of their five round headliner, failing to mount anything significant other than a couple of early takedowns, as well as some decent counter shots.
Failing to mitigate the stinging jab and forward pressure and motion from Font, Garbrandt was quite handily outstruck from the second round onwards -- with a brief comeback in the opening minutes of the fifth round coming too late for any real substantial rally.
The defeat sends Garbrandt back to the losing column and comes as his fourth loss in his last five Octagon appearances.
Briefly returning to the winner's enclosure last June at UFC 250 after a slew of three consecutive knockout defeats, the Ohio native turned in a Knockout of the Year candidate of his own, in the form of a buzzer-beating second round one-punch stoppage of perennial bantamweight contender, Raphael Assuncao.
Booked to meet with current flyweight champion, Deiveson Figueiredo in his divisional bow at UFC 255 in November last, Garbrandt was forced from the matchup after he suffered a bicep injury and contracted a debilitating case of COVID-19 in the lead up to the fight, which had since left him with lingering health issues such as vertigo, blood clots, and mental fog.
Reflecting on Saturday's defeat to Font in an Instagram live session following the headlining bout, Garbrandt thanked his fans, before explaining that he felt like he was battling himself in the Octagon.
"Rob (Font) was the better man," Garbrandt said. "I felt like I was fighting myself in there, battling myself. I'm not taking anything away from him. Congrats to his camp, congrats to him."
Despite the defeat, which comes as his fourth in his last five Octagon walks, Garbrandt still has plans to claim another championship in the future, and maintains a lot of positives have come off the back of the loss.
"A lot of positives come from this," Garbrandt explained. "Brush it off. Get back with my coaches and teammates and we're still striving to be the best, to be world champion. Sometimes there's some adversity that comes along in your dreams and makes you work harder and makes you realise what needs to be done and it makes it that much sweeter when you climb up the mountain."
"It wasn't my night, but man I enjoy this," Garbrandt continued. "I'll correct my mistakes and ('I'm) just really thankful. ... I fight my heart out for you guys." (H/T MMA Junkie)
With the defeat, Garbrandt's promotional record now sits at 7-4 -- with notable victories coming against Marcus Brimage, Thomas Almeida, Takeya Mizugaki, and in his crowning achievement, bested two-time champion, Dominick Cruz at UFC 207 in a unanimous decision masterclass.
Comments
Post a Comment