Cody Garbrandt is set to make his return to the octagon at UFC 285. He will be taking on Trevin Jones on March 4, 2023, at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada. He recently reacted to an old picture that has resurfaced online of him standing beside the NBA legend Kobe Bryant and ex-UFC fighter, Francis Ngannou.
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Kobe Bryant was a 5-time NBA champion and arguably one of the greatest NBA legends of all time. The Lakers legend’s personality, on and off the field, charmed a lot of sports fans. Moreover, Bryant even had great relations with athletes from other sports.
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LOS ANGELES, CA. JAN. 04, 2015. Lakers’ #24 Kobe Bryant all smiles after an assist from teammate Carlos Boozer in a game vs the Pacers’ in the 1st half of the game at Staple Center in Los Angeles on Jan. 04, 2015. LA Lakers play the Indiana Pacers in a regular NBA season game. (Photo by Lawrence K. Ho/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Kobe Bryant was a fan of mixed martial arts, especially the UFC. On one occasion, Cody Garbrandt was preparing for his fight with TJ Dillashaw at UFC 217. ‘No Love’ attended a Bryant-invested company, BODYARMOR event, along with Francis Ngannou. Both UFC fighters bumped into the NBA legend and shared a light moment.
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Cody Garbrandt reacts to the resurfaced image of him with Kobe Bryant and Francis Ngannou
‘No Love’ found the old image crop up on Instagram, shared by the ‘5th_round’ page, and reminisced about that moment when he got the chance to interact with the NBA legend. He commented on the post and wrote: “Great times !!”
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That time when Garbrandt met Kobe Bryant, he was fast ascending to the top of his UFC division. He was on his way to defending his bantamweight title at UFC 217. Garbrandt received a few words of motivation that night from Bryant. However, ‘No Love’ was unsuccessful in retaining his championship as he lost to TJ Dillashaw via knockout in the second round of the fight.
Since that night, Cody Garbrandt went through a downward spiral in terms of his MMA career. He even lost the rematch with TJ Dillashaw at UFC 227, and this time he lost to a knockout in the first round. Cody Garbrandt’s stock has since gone down as a credible contender in the UFC. He has managed to win just one out of his last six fights in the UFC. The 31-year-old has now found himself at the threshold of his UFC career. However, he will look to bounce back to his winning ways at UFC 285, which will be headlined by Jon Jones and Ciryl Gane for the vacant heavyweight championship title.
Let us know your thoughts on Cody Garbrandt’s upcoming fight in the comments below.
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Debmallya Chakraborty