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By Hunter Homistek

It's nearly impossible to picture UFC bantamweight Cody Garbrandt as anything but a winner. The 8-0 fighter (3-0, UFC) trains alongside some of the sport's finest at Sacramento's Team Alpha Male. His social media accounts scream success—California sunshine, good eats, weekly haircuts, beautiful women. At 24 years old, "No Love" looks like he has it all. 

He has this now, because he's felt what it's like to have nothing. 

"I’ve lost a lot of shit in my life," Garbrandt told FloCombat. "People in and out of my life… I've had that feeling of loss that brings agony and pain, all of that." 

That includes an imprisoned father, weekly street fights, home strife, school suspensions, and plenty more. Some day, it'll all make one hell of a rap album. 

"As a kid, you might think, ‘Why is this happening? Why did Billy get to do this and I don’t?’" Garbrandt said. "You sit there and wonder and talk and think through things. But you don’t know until you really get put through some shit that you’re like, ‘OK, this is a life lesson. This is life teaching me a lesson.’"

And while most fighters maintain a "losing is never an option" attitude, Garbrandt knows differently. He's felt it firsthand. It's here that his mentality follows a different road, and that's made all the difference. 

"I think I’m OK with losing," Garbrandt said. "You can’t sit there and pretend you’re going to win and win and win. Me? I think I’m going to lose a fight. That’s what motivates me. I know what it feels like to lose a fight. I know what it feels like to lose at life. Those feelings are by far some of the lowest things you’ll ever feel, I believe." 

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Garbrandt has never lost as a professional inside the cage. Run the tape back, though, and you'll trip among the potholes of defeat. A 32-1 amateur boxing career ended on a sour note with a loss against a heavier, last-minute replacement. Jerrell Hodge's right hand planted Garbrandt cold in the final amateur fight of his career. Four fights earlier, Garbrandt ended his amateur debut by tapping out in two minutes. 

Much earlier, a high-school wrestling state title repeat evaded him at the buzzer. 

"At 16 years old, I lost my state finals match," Garbrandt said. "As a kid, you dream of being a state champion. Especially in Ohio, it’s huge. In front of 17-18,000 people, you lose the state title after you’ve worked so hard all year. I was the returning state champion. That really stuck out to me, and I kind of did a lot of soul searching after that." 

Garbrandt now feels ready to confront loss at any time. It's not that he wants to—his three-a-day workouts and commitment to daily improvements say as much—but he finds strength in his past all the same.

"If I were to lose, I’m not going to f-----g say, ‘Hey, I’m retiring.’ Or, “Hey, I’m going to kill myself,'" Garbrandt said. "Life goes on. Something’s going to happen, and you’re just going to say, 'Oh, I’m going to give up on life’? No. I think that mental aspect is something a lot of fighters don’t work on." 

Garbrandt's current task at hand is a mighty one. Seventh-ranked bantamweight and 21-0 fighter Thomas Almeida seeks to put an end to "No Love's" success. Like Garbrandt, Almeida is the bringer of unconsciousness—a knockout artist with fearsome instincts. In his last three trips to the Octagon, Almeida produced three concussions, with the latest a first-round starching that left Anthony Birchak unnaturally crumpled against the cage after a wild four-minute affair.  

Garbrandt isn't buying the hype. 

"He’s 21-0. I look at it, ‘Oh, OK, you’re 21-0, and you’re at this point in your career.’ I’m 8-0, and I’m at this point in my career where I’m finally starting to get my rhythm and get more comfortable in there," Garbrandt said. "So what are you doing? Who the f--k are you fighting that you have to have 21 fights to finally get your shot? If I have 21 fights, I’m going to be a scary m----------r — more than I am now." 

With Garbrandt, respect dissipates when talking about Almeida. "No Love" heard through the grapevine that Almeida believes a second-round knockout will come in his favor. That doesn't sit well. 

"F--k that," Garbrandt said. "I’m going to knock you out in the first. I’m going to test your chin early on. I know he’s a slow starter, and I’m going to get after him and just hurt him." 

It's the shadow of his past that continues to propel Garbrandt. For perhaps the first time in his life, he owns the keys to success, and he's not interested in relinquishing the driver's seat. 

"You’re trying to write your own future, but he’s trying to steal the pen and ink from you and write his own," Garbrandt said. "So you’re in control of that when you get in there. I’m trying to write my own future. I don’t believe any man is going to stop me from that."