There was a time when people suspected Cody Garbrandt was a little mushy between the ears. A talented knockout artist, yes, but was he also a bit hot-tempered? (Bend pinky, place at corner of mouth.)
Before their bantamweight title belt, Dominick Cruz tested that theory, jumping under the skin and into the head of Garbrandt every chance he got. He's shook, everyone said.
And guess who's wearing the belt now? If you said "Cody Garbrandt," that is correct.
So where did this perception come from? The throat sleeve may have played a role, I grant you, but there's more here. There was that time, if you'll recall, when he confronted a high-profile UFC star by the name of Conor McGregor.
It was on the 22nd season of The Ultimate Fighter, and McGregor was taunting rival coach Urijah Faber (and doing a pretty good job of it, too). McGregor, not being the kind to pull back in a chicken game, spread his invective to cover Team Alpha Male, Faber's fighter stable, most of whom were sitting just a few feet away.
One of those charges was Garbrandt. Dared by McGregor to "do something," Garbrandt answered the bell by standing and giving McGregor a hard shove, nearly igniting a bleacher-clearing brawl in the process.
This might have been the seed that planted the Garbrandt-is-a-hothead theory in peoples' minds. Shows how much we know.
Moving forward, Garbrandt once said he'd move all the way up to 155 pounds to face McGregor. If McGregor ever gets off this Floyd Mayweather kick, that might be something worth investigating.
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