Cody Stamann knew fighting a Brazilian in Rio de Janeiro would be tough.
Stamann was taking on UFC newcomer, Luan Lacerda at UFC 283, and going into the fight, the American made it clear he would give it back to the Brazilian fans if need be. Yet, throughout fight week, the fans surprised him by being nice and talking to him, but once he got into the arena, he says the fans were brutal.
“It lived up to all my expectations of how brutal those fans are in the arena. One thing that did surprise me was how nice everyone was outside of the arena, like at the hotel or in public,” Stamann said to BJPENN.com. “People were so respectful of fighters and couldn’t wait to talk to you and get a picture and your autograph, and then you go into the arena and if you aren’t a Brazilian they want to kill you. That was the only thing that kind of surprised me.”
Heading into the scrap, Stamann was confident in his ability to keep it standing and outstrike Lacerda. Yet, Stamann admits the length of Lacerda was difficult to deal with.
“He was a lot bigger than I thought, he was insanely long. I felt like I was out of range and he threw a kick and it still hit me. But, in reality, I didn’t take any damage in that fight, he hit me like one time in the head, and everything else hit my arms,” Stamann said. “He never landed anything good, I thought my defense and footwork were the best it’s been in the cage. I expected him to be more aggressive to try and get the fight to the mat but I think my movement made it difficult. He’s a tough kid and I do think he will do well in the UFC and I feel shitty I spoiled his debut like that.”
With Cody Stamann thinking he blocked most of Luan Lacerda’s shots, he was confident he was getting his hand raised, which is what happened. However, he admits it was a closer fight watching it back than what he felt in the cage because he knew the shots Luan Lacerda threw weren’t landing.
“You are never confident going to the judges because everybody gets robbed in this sport,” Stamann said. “When I rewatched it, it looked closer but being in there I thought I won with ease because I blocked most of his shots and landed some good ones. I was really sure I was going to get the win.”
The plan now for Stamann is to take a bit of time off and enjoy life. However, he is hoping for an active year and eyes a return in four months’ time against Daniel Marcos who submitted Saimon Oliveira at UFC 283 in his promotional debut.
Stamann knows Marcos is dangerous – as evidenced by his undefeated record – but the American thinks it would be a fun fight. As well, Stamann believes he could hand Marcos his first career loss to derail some of his hype.
“I’d like to get back in there in like four months. Give me a month to hang out and enjoy life, somewhat of a normal life,” Stamann said. “Then, I’ll get right back into a training camp so four months is perfect for me…
“If it’s not going to be a top-10 guy, I don’t care who it is. I’ll fight anybody,” Stamann later added. “Daniel Marcos fought on the same card as me, got a finish, and didn’t take much damage so I’d be open to that fight. I think that could be a really fun fight. And, I love derailing people’s hype and shutting down a hype train.”
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