Cody Haddon might not be known to the general MMA audience yet, but he is one to keep an eye on.
Haddon (2-0) is a young Australian prospect that just 22 years old; however, he has been involved in martial arts since he was 6 years old, training in Taekwon-Do, wrestling, Muay Thai, boxing (3 x Australian champ), and BJJ.
“When I was real young, I remember watching boxing and MMA, specifically the UFC with my dad on the television, and I was hooked on combat sports ever since,” Haddon said in an exclusive interview with Cagesidepress. “One day, I asked my dad to take me down to the Taekwon-Do gym because I was obsessed with the Karate Kid movie. He took me down there, and I felt at home. I was never really good at anything when I was young. At school, I was that small fat kid who had asthma, and I was always sick, so anything physical was always hard for me.”
“When I got to the Taekwon-Do gym, I just had a bit of a natural ability for it. The coaches would show me something once, and I could just do it straight away. And for the first time ever, I kind of felt like, wow, I’m actually good at something, you know, so, therefore, I never really stopped training in martial arts. I got addicted because it made me feel good.”
Haddon competes in the Bantamweight division. Between June of 2018 through September of 2019, the Australian amassed an amateur MMA record of 5-0. All five of his wins were via stoppage – four submissions and one TKO.
“To be honest, I should have probably gone pro straight away to start my MMA career,” Haddon said. “But I’m glad that I took the longer route because I wanted to find out what my real weight division was. I didn’t want to jump into the pros straight away and cut to flyweight without ever cutting to that weight before and ruining my body and possibly starting out on the wrong foot.”
Haddon made his professional debut at Eternal MMA 53 on October 20, 2020. He faced off against Shantaram Maharaj, a fighter who had 19 more fights than him. Haddon would defeat him in a little more than a minute via TKO.
What a performance from very intersting prospect Cody Haddon.
That was his pro debut against pretty tought opponent and veteran Maharaj, but he just mauls him. #Eternal53 pic.twitter.com/mWAmcY4UfD— Special CombatSport (@SCombatsport) October 10, 2020
“Getting my first pro win felt very rewarding, you know? I pictured it my whole life. I always wanted to be an MMA fighter, and to get a first-round stoppage was everything,” Haddon said.
Haddon would return for his second pro fight at Eternal MMA 56 in the main event. He would face Mark Familari and again be victorious via TKO, this time in the second round.
“I knew my Mark was super tough and durable, and he wasn’t going to give up, so I knew I was going to have to put him out or hurt him really bad,” Haddon said. “I didn’t have a game plan going to the fight because I knew I was going to have the upper hand wherever the fight went. The fight went exactly as I thought it would go, and I’m happy overall with my performance.”
The 22-year-old has had trouble finding fights, even dating back to when he was an amateur.
“I guess it is just a high risk-low reward for these guys that are turning me down. I probably would have had more than five amateur fights if I had the opportunity. Just know, I have never turned down a fight, and I never will. Unless it’s a short notice flyweight fight,” Haddon laughed.
Haddon returns to action at Eternal 60 on June 5 in Perth, Australia, against his toughest test to date. He faces Eternal Flyweight Champion Steve Erceg in a bantamweight match-up. Erceg was set to defend his title; however, his opponent pulled out of the fight.
Haddon wrote on Instagram, “Nothing I love more than fighting in front of a home crowd! Eternal flyweight champ Steve Erceg has, unfortunately, had his title defense postponed and has agreed to come up to meet me at bantamweight in what will be the toughest fight of my career.”
With a win over Erceg, it would put Haddon at 3-0, and he says in a perfect world, he would get signed by a major organization, sitting at 5-0. But he knows sometimes fighters in lighter weights take longer.
“You see heavyweights get signed to the UFC or Bellator with like three fights, but then you see 135ers or 155ers come into the promotions with like 20 fights,” Haddon said.
“The truth is, I’ve been competing in combat sports my whole life, you know. So not only have I competed in MMA, but I’ve also competed in many other martial arts like amateur boxing and things like that, which is really highly regarded in Australia. I am a three-time boxing champ and four-time PanPacs BJJ champ. I am a true mixed martial artist and have been my whole life. I will keep proving it.”
Time will tell when Haddon will get signed to a major organization, but first, he needs to get through Erceg on June 5.
