Former UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt is in action again as he faces Rob Font in the main event of UFC Vegas 27. He has some momentum behind him after beating Raphael Assuncao in his last fight via a spectacular knockout.
However, his career was in freefall before that fight. Garbrandt worked in extremes, and after he went undefeated in his first 11 professional MMA fights, he lost three in a row to lose the belt and all the hype he had surrounding him.
More damagingly, two of those losses were knockouts against his former teammate and best friend, TJ Dillashaw.
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They had a great relationship before, and the fans first saw a glimpse of their strong relationship at The Ultimate Fighter 22, where Conor McGregor and Urijah Faber were the coaches.
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‘The Notorious’ was slagging off TJ Dillashaw, who was a special guest coach on TUF 22 for Team Faber, to ‘The California Kid.’
McGregor questioned Dillashaw’s loyalty and branded him a “snake in the grass,” which prompted an angry response from Garbrandt.
No Love’ soon got involved and said: “That’s why I can’t let you sit and talk shit about T.J. without saying something because that’s my f**king boy.”
It almost turned into a brawl, and every fighter was ready to fight for their respective coaches. However, it fizzled out with Garbrandt just trying to push McGregor, and nothing happened after that.
Amazingly, McGregor’s words came true when Dillashaw betrayed Faber and Garbrandt and fought Garbrandt for the bantamweight title, defeating him twice. He was also banned from fighting after he tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs.
Cody Garbrandt versus Rob Font: A chance to get back to the top
After all the good work he did in his last fight, Garbrandt is ranked #4 in the official UFC rankings for bantamweight. Meanwhile, his opponent Rob Font is ranked #3.
A win for either of the fighters would make them contenders for the title shot, alongside Cory Sandhagen.
Garbrandt needs this win more as he needs to prove that he has changed since his losing streak days and that he doesn’t let his emotions cloud him anymore.
If he can somehow recapture the form that saw him win the bantamweight belt in the first place, he’ll rule the division for a long time.
Do you think Cody Garbrandt can defeat Rob Font?
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