Although Garbrandt maintains a positive feeling around his short-lived move down to flyweight, he relished the return to 135. Instead of a slew of running, he got to lift more weights, and instead of a steady diet of greens and fish, Garbrandt enjoyed incorporating more steak and other meats into his meals again, as well. Essentially, the quality of life was just a little bit better.
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That steeled mentality certainly helped deal with a handful of cancelled fights throughout the last year-and-a-half. Eventually, Trevin Jones stepped up to fight, and Garbrandt understands how Jones views the opportunity at hand.
“You’ve got to respect everybody in the sport,” Garbrandt said. “He’s here for a reason. He’s looking to use my name. This fight is an opportunity to keep him in the UFC and have a win over a world champion. It’s my job to let him know and make him understand that there’s levels to this and how I perform or how I prepared for this fight was a different level than I’ve ever performed for any of my fights.”
It’s no secret that the last few years haven’t treated Garbrandt kindly since he won the bantamweight title in 2016.
That’s the fight game, though, and the ability to tread the choppy waters separates the good ones from the great ones in the sport. After putting in what seems like good work to reground himself mentally, Garbrandt is perhaps on the precipice of turning the page to another chapter of his career – one that could put him on a path toward redemption. First, though, comes taking care of business against Jones, and he intends on controlling each aspect of the fight wherever it goes.
