‘Cherish the belt this time, when you get it’: Cody Garbrandt reveals Mike Tyson’s words of wisdom ahead of Dillashaw rematch

Cody Garbrandt plans on erasing all memory of his sole professional mixed martial arts defeat this weekend when he rematches TJ Dillashaw for the UFC’s bantamweight title.

Their first meeting, a stunning two-round affair in Madison Square Garden last November, ended when Dillashaw landed a flush left hook on Garbrandt to recapture the title that he had originally lost to Dominick Cruz.

This time around though, Garbrandt says that the result will be reversed — and he will cherish having the belt around his waist once more thanks to some words of advice from Mike Tyson.

“To cherish the belt this time, when I get it,” Garbrandt told ESPN’s Ariel Helwani as to what Tyson told him in the lead-in to this weekend’s main event. “That’s what he said. You’re going to love it so much, you’re going to have a newfound respect to be world champion once you reclaim this title.

Garbrandt was introduced to the former world heavyweight champion by a film producer, via mixed martial arts manager Ali Abdelaziz.

“Ali introduced me to a movie producer, and they were friends,” Garbrandt said. “That’s how we kind of got connected with Mike, and we’ve been friends for a few years now.”

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