LAS VEGAS -- To some, it is a complicated question, a mystery without no obvious answer: What the heck happened to Cody Garbrandt? Garbrandt went 11-0 in his first 11 fights and capped that streak off on Dec. 30, 2016, at UFC 207 when he put on a near-perfect performance and defeated Dominick Cruz to capture the bantamweight title.
He had the makings of a superstar, in and out of the Octagon.
And then, just as quickly as he rose, Garbrandt did a nose dive. Nobody thought much at first after back-to-back losses to bitter rival T.J. Dillashaw at UFC 217 and UFC 227. Dillashaw was a great fighter in his own right, and it was no shock he'd come up big at a key moment.
It wasn't, though, just the Dillashaw fights. There was a defeat to Pedro Munhoz and, after a win over Rafael Assuncao, losses to Rob Font and Kai Kara-France. His 1-5 run was as inexplicable as his 11-0 run was exhilarating.
But for all of those who were puzzled, none of it shocked Ali Abdelaziz, Garbrandt's fiercely loyal manager who watched on as Garbrandt struggled to do the simplest of tasks.
"Cody Garbrandt is an unbelievable human being and an unbelievable talent, but what people don't know is that Cody Garbrandt, in some of his fights, whether he won or whether he lost, he couldn't get out of bed in the morning," Abdelaziz said. "He was injured. He had back problems and every camp was just miserable. The man fought through pure heart."
That might work against B- and C-level talent, but it won't work against the best fighters in the world. Garbrandt will meet a man, Deiveson Figueiredo, on Saturday in the opener of UFC 300 at T-Mobile Arena, who without question is near the top of the list of the great fighters.
An injured Garbrandt wouldn't have much of a chance. Abdelaziz has seen what Garbrandt has done, not only in this camp but in 2023, and he's convinced that a vastly different version of Garbrandt will compete.
Garbrandt turned his career back around in 2023 while not nearly as many were paying attention. The spotlight wasn't as intense. It had been more than five years since that magical night against Cruz when Garbrandt made the walk to face Trevin Jones in the featured preliminary bout of UFC 285 on March 4, 2023.
He won a split decision by scores of 29-28, and most of the attention that night was lavished upon Jon Jones, who won the heavyweight title. Then, at UFC 296 on Dec. 16, Garbrandt met Brian Kelleher. There was an aura about him all fight week. He exuded confidence. He had a presence, as if he knew something big was about to happen.
He went out and took Kelleher apart, stopping him in the first round in his best performance since Cruz in the same ring more than six years earlier.
Garbrandt didn't talk about injuries, at least night of the obvious variety. But he attributed his turnaround to a better mindset and working with the people at the UFC Performance Institute on sports psychology.
Micah Schnurstein, a former minor league baseball player in the Chicago White Sox organization, spent hours over the last two years with Garbrandt on the mental aspects of being a professional athlete.
"A lot of things were getting away from me leading up to the fight," Garbrandt said. "One of the things was about being present, being engaged. I was always, 'Hey, I'm in the UFC. I'm going to fight for the title.' It was always looking forward instead of looking at the table in front of me. It was looking past things."
It took him a while -- They've been meeting nearly every Thursday for two years -- but he's finally adapted to the teachings. And given that he's also physically healthy, he's suddenly resembling that young guy who two years into his UFC run won a championship.
He learned what it took both physically and mentally and he's back to where he once was.
It's no guarantee, because it's not as if he's getting easy fights. He's facing a former world champion on Saturday, and the opposition will continue to get tougher the longer the win streak goes. That's life in the UFC.
He's prepared, though, for whatever will come. And the always optimistic Abdelaziz, well, let's just say he likes what he sees.
"Cody Garbrandt in my book is a legend in every way you can [be a legend]," he said. "I love him to death and I believe right now we're going to see the old Cody Garbrandt, always exciting, always entertaining. Cody Garbrandt has never been in a boring fight and even if he tried, I don't think he could."