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Fighter-turned-MMA analyst Chael Sonnen believes former UFC bantamweight Cody Garbrandt is “stubborn,” which had led to his career slump.
Sonnen’s comments came in reaction to TJ Dillashaw’s recent words about Garbrandt.
Dillashaw and “No Love” fought twice for the 135-pound strap. Dillashaw is the man responsible for taking Garbrandt’s belt, as well as his undefeated MMA record. He defeated No Love via TKO in their first fight in 2016 and KO in their second contest in 2017.
Since then, Garbrandt has suffered three losses in four fights, dropping a TKO to Pedro Munhoz, a unanimous decision to Rob Font and a TKO to Kai Kara-France.
His sole victory in this current stretch is over Raphael Assuncao. Garbrandt knocked out the longtime bantamweight contender in 2020.
Dillashaw Said Garbrandt Isn’t ‘The Smartest Human’ While Fighting, Needs to Evolve
Dillashaw believes No Love, his former teammate, needs to evolve as a fighter, but “he’s not the smartest human being inside that cage.”
“He’s a pretty freak athlete,” Dillashaw recently said on “The Schaub Show” via MMA Junkie. “He’s fast. He’s the fastest guy I’ve ever sparred or fought, by far the most speed, but I’m not trying to be a complete a**hole, but he’s not the smartest human being inside that cage. To be able to stay on the top, you’ve got to change who you are and fight to fight to fight, he’s the exact same fighter. He’s a wrestler. He knows how to wrestle. Why not learn some jiu-jitsu and stop relying on your chin and hands because your chin is not there.
“So change up who you are as a fighter, and he’s just not willing to do that. He’s gonna keep his head in the same spot, his hands are gonna be low, and he’s gonna throw hard, fast hooks. So after everyone sees where his weaknesses are at, and his left hand is in his pocket as he throws the right hand, just keep your left hand high and smoke him with the right. I mean, game over. We’ve seen it like five fights in a row.”
Sonnen Called Garbrandt ‘Stubborn,’ Assessed No Love’s Current Situation
Although Sonnen didn’t choose to use the words Dillashaw used, “The American Gangster” agrees that Garbrandt should change things up instead of finding himself always in a firefight.
“T.J. Dillashaw took a swing at old nemesis Cody Garbrandt,” Sonnen said in a recent YouTube video via Sportskeeda.com. “And T.J. made an observation, and he actually complimented Cody, talked about how fast he is, how fast those hands are, and said but he’s too dumb within the sport. Now, that’s a way that an opponent would word it, right? I’m an advocate. I’ll see T.J.’s point. I’ll just word it differently. Cody’s stubborn.”
“Would you rather have a few of those [critical] comments out there, or would you rather have your hand raised?” Sonnen questioned “Would you rather go out in dynamic style, or would you rather have a safer fight? These are fair questions to ask. And for right now, the more risk is the way Cody’s going with it. He is for sure stubborn.”
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