The former UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt has revealed that he is currently battling several health issues related to contracting COVID-19 back in August.
Garbrandt was originally supposed to face off against flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 255 which took place last night. In October ‘No Love’ was forced out of the bout due to a torn bicep. Alex Perez replaced him and was quickly dispatched of by the 125lb king at the UFC Apex last night. Prior to that Garbrandt was reported to have contracted the coronavirus but it was not believed to be an ongoing issue, rather one he had managed to quickly shake off like many other MMA fighters.
Garbrandt took to social media last night to explain that he is still experiencing some severe issues, such as blood clots, pneumonia, and mental fog which are all are all symptoms of the post-COVID syndrome.
“Disclaimer from my last post, I was positive for COVID Aug 29th,” Garbrandt wrote on Instagram. “Since then I have been battling vertigo, tore my vein in my bicep which resulted in finding out I have blood clots, pneumonia and mental fog, these are the symptoms I’ve had and been dealing with and this is the reason I pulled out of the fight. I haven’t done any media, but I’d like to address it on my own terms.” (Transcribed by MMA Mania)
Despite these ongoing issues, Garbrandt told Brett Okamoto that he will be ready to square off against Figueiredo in March.
“Spoke briefly to Cody Garbrandt (@Cody_Nolove),” Okamoto wrote on Twitter. ““Alex Perez was just someone they gave Figueiredo to build up our fight more. I knock that guy (Figueiredo) out in the first or second round. I’ll be ready by March.””
Do you think Cody Garbrandt will be able to recover from his health issues and return to fighting in the next few months?