Cody Garbrandt didn’t want the smoke.
Originally, bantamweight standout Miles Johns was set to square off with ‘No Love’ in October — the same night Brandon Royval and Tatsuro Taira tore the house down in Las Vegas. According to Johns, the bout was eventually moved back to November 9 due to some sort of potential issue with Garbrandt. Of course, November came and went with no sign of Johns or Garbrant stepping inside the Octagon.
During a recent interview with Fanatics View, Johns offered some insight into the back-to-back cancelations that eventually led him to move on and fight someone else altogether.
“The original fight with Cody was set for, like, October 12th or something, and I was training for that, getting ready. Then I got word that he was having some sort of issues, so they had to move it back to November 9th,” Johns said.
“I flew out to Vegas for that fight on November 9th — it was fight week — and then I get word that Cody’s out. Honestly, it didn’t surprise me that much. When I was watching him, it felt like he was training. He seemed like he was bringing some guys in to emulate my style and stuff.”
Officially, their November fight was scrapped due to a Garbrandt injury. However, Johns isn’t necessarily buying that.
“Part of me felt like he was ready, but there was also part of me that felt like he just wasn’t going to make it to the cage,” Johns added. “I don’t know if that’s… Personally, I believe it was his last fight on his contract. He probably wanted somebody with a bigger name and someone who wasn’t going to risk knocking him out.”
Johns suspects Cody Garbrandt wanted something a little safer for the final fight on his contract
Garbrandt has struggled to find the win column in recent years, losing six of his last nine. If ‘No Love’ is on the last fight of his contract, he could be holding out for a bigger name to try and maximize his payout, perhaps anticipating that the promotion won’t be re-signing him amid his recent struggles.
“You know, there’s energy that goes into these fight camps and stuff. I was super locked in, super confident, and super prepared. If you looked at my Instagram or felt any of that energy coming in, I’m sure he knew he was in for a war. I just don’t think he wanted that.
“I think he messed around with the idea, thought he was going to do it, and then that little vertigo thing happened—which, I’m sure, has been happening his whole career. At the last minute, he probably just decided, ‘Maybe this isn’t the one to do on my last fight.’ So, it is what it is. I’m past that.”
Instead of waiting for Garbrandt to finally show up, Miles Johns will instead face Brazilian newcomer Felipe Lima at UFC Tampa on December 14. Lima made his promotional debut in June, landing a third-round submission victory over Muhammad Naimov at UFC Saudi Arabia.
Johns enters the fight with a 6-2 record inside the Octagon and a three-fight win streak, including victories over Vince Morales, Cody Gibson, and Douglas Silva de Andrade.
