HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – Urijah Faber doesn’t think it’ll take much for Cody Garbrandt to rebound from his current skid.
After Garbrandt (12-5 MMA, 7-5 UFC) dethroned Dominick Cruz in incredible fashion to capture the bantamweight title in 2016, things started going south for “No Love.”
Garbrandt would go on to lose five of his next six bouts, most recently suffering a knockout against Kai Kara-France in his flyweight debut at UFC 269. But considering Garbrandt’s star power and exciting fighting style, Faber thinks one big win could open up plenty of doors for his teammate.
“Without getting into the personal life of Cody, people don’t know what happens in people’s lives,” Faber told MMA Junkie. “And some of those fights I feel like were his fights to win, sometimes maybe (he was) not as focused. I think it’s really just understanding that it needs to be an all-in attitude, and the last camp he actually had an amazing camp. He was partially at our camp and partially out in New Jersey a little bit and was super focused and on point and took everything really, really serious, and that’s all we need from him.
“He was fighting another world-class fighter, and he needs to go out and have his best performance, have some good luck on his side, and it only takes one fight for Cody to get back on the right track and build off of that momentum. But he’s had his own battles inside, outside the octagon, and that’s more his story to tell. But very young guy, the world is his oyster if he gets on the right track and makes it happen.”
Despite falling short in his divisional debut, Garbrandt hasn’t necessarily closed the door on flyweight but said he’s also open to returning to his original division.
