The UFC Summer Kickoff Press Conference went down last night. However, the UFC bantamweight champion was not in attendance. Cody “No Love” Garbrandt was instead on a plane to Germany. The champion is having a little work done on his back.
UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt is set to face former champion T.J. Dillashaw in a title fight grudge match. After having his tickets to the recent press conference cancelled, T.J. Dillashaw assumed that his opponent may be pulling out of their highly anticipated matchup.
However, Cody Garbrandt later revealed that he was unable to join the conference because he was heading to Germany for a back procedure. Now, the UFC president has stepped in to agree that he is 100 percent confident that “No Love” will be showing up for their epic matchup.
In an interview with MMA Junkie, UFC President Dana White addressed the question of if the fight was being cancelled.“No, it’s not off. Cody Garbrandt is having back issues, and we sent him to a place for (stem cell treatment), and apparently, that didn’t work.
“So we’re putting him on a plane and sending him to that place in Germany that I go to. If this doesn’t work, he’ll be the only athlete I’ve ever known of that it didn’t work. It worked for Kobe Bryant. It works for (Alex Rodriguez) and soccer players (throughout the world). I mean, every athlete I’ve ever know that’s gone there has come out healed.” White said.
Speaking on Cody Garbrandt’s uncertainty of the procedure, White remarked “Cody’s not confident because when you’re in the type of pain he’s in, you don’t believe you can be fixed that easily. But I know the credentials of these guys in Germany, and I’m 100 percent confident he will be better and he will fight on July 8.”
Dana White said that he does have a backup plan prepared if the champion is not able to compete.“If he can’t fight. T.J. Dillashaw called me this morning and said, ‘If Cody can’t fight, what I would love to do is stop Demetrious Johnson from breaking the record.’”
