How UFC’s Cody “No Love” Garbrandt Went From Making Poor Decisions to a World Champion

Young Hollywood, what is going on? Today we have UFC's very own, Cody, No Love, Garbrandt.

Excited to be here.

Excited? You got a new book.

New pack. Just released on Tuesday, so I'm excited to be doing this media tour. Just got back from New York, so

You're young, a young man, promising career still, entering your prime. Correct. Why did you want to get this book out?

I think it was due to the timing. The timing of the pack, the story, and when you the readers read this book, you can go through it, you know, with the with Maddox's story, my story, and how we met on fortunate circumstances. We made that pack to promise that he would beat cancer and I'd make it to the UFC and become a world champion.

You guys met and you're you're actually in a tough time in your life.

A huge transition period in my life. I left college twice and I was, you know, a young adult trying to figure out what I was going to do. I started boxing, I was wrestling and that was really my passion, but you know, I was always making, you know, horrible decisions. I was couldn't get away from my friends that were, you know, doing drugs, selling drugs, so it was a a wake up call for me and late, you know, shortly after I met Maddox, I was trying to change my life back, getting into the gym, really set out to, you know, make it in fighting and and fulfill my my dreams and my passion so long was to be a world champion.

Right. How did no love, the nickname come about?

So, my uncle was my boxing trainer, um, since I can remember, I would go in there and spar and he would train local pros or pros around the area and amateurs and I was a a teenager going in there and sparring them and and beating them up and my uncle was, you know, he was a ballbuster, so he wrote them real hard. He's like, man, you're getting beat up by a kid. So this guy's showing you no love and it just like stuck. And when they guys like, oh, that's Cody No Love. Every time I came in the gym because they would say, he's showing you no love.

One thing I always find about combat sports is the training, being relentless and UFC champion caliber level. How do you train at that level?

You know, for me, I always was self-motivated. I think that goes back to where our mom put us in wrestling at an early age. She showed us work ethic, you know, dedication and didn't let us quit in any sport once we started, we had to finish it. If we didn't like it or we weren't good at it or anything like that. She just never let us give up on anything. So it was easy to be self-motivated and in it's passion. I I really love fighting. That's all I I've known and had my life, whether it was negative or positive. I took the positive from it and and ran with it.

Always find it curious the entrance leading up to a fight. Oh. Goosebumps, man. Tell me what that experience is like because I'm, I always look at these fighters and I'm like, that's has to be an amazing feeling, but also a nerve wracking moment.

You're getting ready for the walk, and you're behind these curtains and, you know, then you have your walkout moniker. Uh, you know, I'll come out to We Will Rock You by Queen. You hear that song start it and you're like, they count you down. Five, four, then they're in your face and like, walk, and the camera's in you and then they pull back the curtains, you see all the bright lights and the people chanting for you and you I just I'm just so fixated on that octagon that I'm already in the octagon. You have to get checked out and then I already have my eyes on my opponent, my adversary. I'm zoned in. I don't even remember the walk.

You're known as a big striker. Tell me about which which hand is the money maker?

I think my both of my hands. I have a lot of knockouts from both hands. You know, it's kind of funny that you say that. Maddox always comes to the fights and we always, you know, do what hand, what hand am I knocking this guy out with? And he'll pick and he's he's has high percentage with what hand he picks and I, you know, usually knock him out with this. I remember the one fight, he he had right hands five fights in a row and then for the Takeyama Zagaki fight right before I fought Cruz for the title, he picked the left hand and I was like, oh gosh, like, what combo am I going to hit to knock this guy out.

So it's kind of like a game you guys play.

Yeah, you know, it's awesome. He's he's has a high percentage rate. So he's like my little good luck charm. But he always believes in the right hand. The right hand's uh it's pretty accurate.

You also have a big fight coming up here in L. A. Yes. Against a former teammate, now rival.

Now rival. Yep. Top.

Tell me about uh what can we expect differently?

The mindset's completely different. My mentality, I'm healthy. Um, more focused than ever. I uh you know, it was coming off of almost a year out of injuries and uh it takes a lot. That weighs a lot mentally on you and just trying to get prepared. I'm a big, you know, visualization and put myself in there and just, you know, being able to try and train, being at the grind, you know, knowing that you're working every day and you're progressing, you're leveling up, you're sharpening your skills. I wasn't able to do that last year. So, you know, being healthy is a huge part of it. But also I was just blessed with uh a newborn child. He's eight weeks old. My little boy Kai. So that's that's motivation in itself.

Guys, there you have it. No Love. No Love.