“Was supposed to be made in 2020” - Cody Garbrandt explains why he wants to fight former UFC champ next

Former UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt enjoyed a succesful return to action in 2023 with two wins from two bouts.

Garbrandt endured a difficult phase from 2017 to 2021 losing a majority of his fights; five losses from six bouts. Now, he wants to cash in on his resurgence by fighting another former champion in Deiveson Figueiredo next.

Figueiredo, a two-time flyweight champion, made the move up to the bantamweight division in his last fight against Rob Font in December. 'No Love' welcomed the prospect of fighting him and called him out after his last win against Brian Kelleher.

He discussed the call-out in his interview with ESPN MMA and said:

“Two former world champions now in the same division, was previously supposed to be made in 2020, obviously I had COVID... So, there's a lot of rights that make it an exciting fight. It just came to me the week of the fight. I was not overlooking Brian or anything like that, but I wrote down on Tuesday or Wednesday of fight week that I was gonna knock Brian out in the first round and call out Figgy. So it was a great call-out, I think that’s a great fight. Fans, matchmakers, the UFC will get behind it hopefully. I know Dana said that he’s gonna announce some more fights in the beginning of the year. Yeah, hopefully we make that one happen.”

Check out Cody Garbrandt's full comments below (22:24):

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Cody Garbrandt reveals grappling with his mental health during losing streak

Cody Garbrandt had only one win in the last five years before bouncing back with two wins in 2023.

The difficult period of his career involved a tough mental battle, as he discussed in his interview with ESPN MMA. He mentioned how he had lost his focus and could not be bothered with his results.Garbrandt explained:

"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. I couldn’t care less of the outcome. You win? Awesome. You lose? Okay, I was just not – 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."

Garbrandt also listed the various factors that play a part when competing inside the UFC octagon:

"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. So it’s all on full display. And you feel it... The mental battle inside your head that you need to get your head out of the lane."

Check out his comments below: