Cody Garbrandt has endured a lot during his life.
Growing up poor in a small town about 90 minutes outside of Cleveland, the now 34-year-old veteran didn’t exactly have many advantages, and a lot of the family surrounding him didn’t always set the best example. Garbrandt eventually found his way through athletics, primarily in wrestling, where he was an Ohio state champion, but even that didn’t offer him a total escape until he finally turned his focus to MMA.
He reached the highest heights when he became UFC champion in 2016, but 11 months later, that dream became a nightmare after he lost the belt, and he’s gone just 3-7 in his past 10 fights. But as Garbrandt approaches his return to action at UFC 326 on Saturday, he says he’s finally found peace amid all the chaos that always defined his life.
“I truly believe fighting saved my life,” Garbrandt said during UFC 326 media day. “I have a lot of friends that are no longer with us, that are dead or hooked on drugs or in prison for life. I come from that. My uncles and my father have been in and out of prison their whole entire lives. Fighting saved my life, gave me a purpose. Inside of the chaos, inside of the octagon, I feel at home. I feel at peace.
“I think because the way that I grew up surrounded by chaos my whole life. Surrounded by violence. Surrounded by a lot of negative things that I’m able to turn into a positive. When I go inside of the octagon, I’m just free. When I’m confident and healthy, there’s no other place I want to be than locked in the cage and fighting for opportunity to catapult into a better position in life. That’s where I’m at now.”
Becoming a UFC champion is supposed to be a life-changing moment for a fighter, but strangely, Garbrandt almost felt like winning the belt put him on a downward spiral both personally and professionally.
It took him some time to realize that he was surrounding himself with the wrong people, and it cost him dearly.
“A lot changed [after becoming champion],” Garbrandt said. “A lot of people around me. I went from unranked to world champion in the same year. There’s people that I didn’t know that was in my circle. Just for what you did, what you had.”
Add to that, Garbrandt just became so used to the volatility that constantly swirled around him that it felt normal to him.
“I always felt like I needed some kind of chaos in my life to feel alive,” Garbrandt said. “Because since I was a kid, my life has been full of chaos. When things are going good, you’re like something is going to happen. You have that in the back of your mind.”
So what changed that allowed Garbrandt to quiet those demons inside his head? It really came down to perspective.
“I’m winning at life,” Garbrandt said. “I’ve got an amazing son that turns 8 next week. I’ve got a daughter that’s two months [old]. My life’s good. I have no chaos. I grew up my whole life in chaos. This has been a great camp where I haven’t had any of that. I’ve just been solely focused on the day-to-day. Training, and when I leave the training gym, I come out, and I’m a father. I’m changing diapers and feeding my baby bottles and helping my son with school, dropping him off, and staying busy with his extracurricular activities as well.
“So yeah, it’s just about balancing. Finding that balance in life. Never being too stressed out about a fight and worrying about ‘what if’ and what could happen. Just taking it day by day and really enjoying what I’ve been blessed with. Two beautiful children, an amazing woman that takes care of us, and really turned my house into a home. I’m just at a good spot in my life, and I haven’t been there in a long time. That goes into having a great camp and being healthy and being excited, and I don’t know the last time I’ve been excited for a fight. It’s been quite some time.”
On paper, Garbrandt has a lot riding on his performance on Saturday after a two-fight losing skid, but he’s taking a more positive approach to his matchup against Xiao Long.
Garbrandt says he’s staying focused on enjoying himself, having fun in the fight, and with his head in the right space ahead of UFC 326, he expects the results to follow.
“I feel like I’m blessed,” Garbrandt said. “I get to go out here and fight. I get to go out here and live a dream that a kid had growing up that would do anything to be in this position, no matter what where I was at in my career. I feel like I’m living on borrowed time, just taking it one day at a time, and just so thankful to be here. I truly am. I love fighting for the UFC.”
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