“I feel like I look back at my life and the things that I’ve had: triumph, some losses, for me, it was almost like a rollercoaster. I’ve been here before, I know I can pull myself out of it. I’ve been in this situation with a lot less, and I’ve been in this situation with a lot more. So for me, I’m really just trying to find that balance between never being too high off a win, never being too low off a loss. That goes with life as well; things come into your life, and things leave your life — you have to find that balance.”
It’s a balance the Team Alpha Male athlete carries with him both inside and out of the Octagon.
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“I know I’m on the right path; I keep reminding myself that I’m on the right path. I’m enjoying the journey and enjoying the process because this window closes daily,” Garbrandt said. “You only have so many fights in your life, and this is a small chapter of my life that’s gonna set the rest of my life for my son. It [the setbacks] made me more mentally tough. I know other people in the world have dealt with far greater — loss, death, and things like that — so I just count my blessings.”
Choosing to see the bright side of his health as he was forced to temporarily step away from the cage, “No Love” also added that the time away allowed him to reset, while he also got to spend invaluable time with his son, where he was able to be truly present.
Granted, the sting of spending time away was likely eased a little bit after a vintage Garbrandt knockout and an extra $50,000 in the bank to get himself back on track, but for the boxer and wrestler bred out of southwest Ohio, it was more about proving himself wrong.
