UFC bantamweight Cody Stamann was supposed to be fighting this weekend, against Raoni Barcelos. Needless to say, he won’t be.
“It’s a really crazy time. This whole coronavirus thing is a lot bigger than fighting,” Stamann told us in a recent interview. We caught up with the Xtreme Couture-based fighter just as word was making the rounds that this weekend’s UFC Columbus card had been postponed. Along with two other events: this past weekend’s London show, and the upcoming UFC Portland card.
“Myself and the UFC held out to the very end. I think the UFC was doing absolutely everything in their power to be the only big sport to continue having events,” Stamann said. “They were just going to find a way to make it happen. But government mandates obviously happened, and it just didn’t make sense.”
The UFC had hopes of moving this weekend’s card to Nevada. But the NSAC had scheduled a meeting for Wednesday, March 25— which would have meant fighters flying in on the Monday, not knowing if the event would even go forward, Stamann pointed out.
“The risk wasn’t worth maybe getting to fight, so obviously they called it off.” There wasn’t much surprise, in the end. The list of available venues seemed to be shrinking by the minute as March wore on.
“Luckily there’s some time in May, I’m being told. So it’s not going to be a huge thing unless this coronavirus thing takes off. But I think we’re getting ahead of it,” observed Stamann. Of course, that was a few days back. Things seem to be changing on an hourly basis. Gyms have closed. The UFC PI has shut down, until at least the end of the month.
Stamann is passing the time as best he can, staying active and continuing to train. “My coaches and a select group of people, we’re at the point where we’re going to get together, and we’re still going to work out.”
The group intends to social distance otherwise, to prevent spreading the virus. Whether it means training in the mountains or in his own pool, “we’ll make it work. I’ll get on my bike in my house and ride for two hours if I have two,” Stamann promised.
As Stamann pointed out, fight camps can be rather mundane. Train at the gym, train at the PI, go home. Rinse, repeat. “I’m trying to just be as positive as possible. Maybe it’ll be nice to have to go other places. Go to a park and work out. Go somewhere else. Have someone over and work out. Maybe I’ll buy some mats and mat a room up. I don’t know. We’ll make it work. That’s what we do, we’re fighters.”
There’s also Netflix. “I’ll binge-watch Netflix every now and again, if there’s something I really get into. Once I start watching it, I can’t shut it off,” Stamann admitted. Vikings has been a big one for him. Peaky Blinders is another. “Couldn’t stop watching.” Game of Thrones, “any good movie — I love a good movie, I love that distraction.” Stamann also enjoys skeet shooting, so from the sounds of it, he’s well prepared if the downtime goes a little longer than planned.
Watch our full interview with Cody Stamann below!
