Cody Stamann returns to action this coming March at UFC 222 and his opponent on that night is going to be Bryan Caraway.
Stamann really wanted to compete on the UFC 218 card in Detroit, but feels he will get on the next card if the UFC returns there.
“It would have been really cool to be on that Detroit card, I was bummed out not to get on it. The UFC had a different plan for me, I’m like one of those guys that like to stay active. I was fighting so often, I haven’t really enjoyed my time out of fight camp. I do enjoy the competition, but not fighting in Detroit…it was cool to just go there and mingle with the fans and just see the arena. I’m sure they will come back and it was an awesome show,” Stamann said in an exclusive interview with Fightful’s James Lynch.
Caraway is going to be the first ranked opponent Stamann has fought during his brief UFC tenure, which has already saw him defeat Tom Duquesnoy and Terrion Ware.
Besides wanting a victory over Caraway, a determined Stamann has two other goals he'd like to accomplish at UFC 222.
“Frankly, he was a guy that I thought about fighting for years. I remember watching him fight and saying ‘I can beat this guy.’ He’s in the top ten, I know I can beat this guy stylistically. I’d know I would be a terrible match up for him, he’s a wrestler and I boxer and I’m a wrestler and a boxer. Except, I’ve evolved past that and he never did. I can remember thinking about fighting Bryan Caraway and maybe I manifested it many years ago, that time has popped up. I was potentially going to fight Pedro Munhoz in Brazil (UFC Fight Night Belem), that had fallen through and they (the UFC) gave that to John Dodson. I was more or less preparing for that fight and when that fell through, the UFC said ‘do you want to fight Bryan Caraway in April?’ I said I don’t really want to wait that long, but sure. Then they said ‘do you wanna fight in March’ and I said lets do it and now we’re running. This is the fight that puts me in the top ten, this is what I’ve always thought I would do. I’ve always told everyone that I’d be in the top ten in three fights and I’d be in the top ten in less than a year, I’m going to do both those things March 3rd,” says Stamann.
UFC 222 takes place on Saturday March 3 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada with Cyborg and Yana Kunitaskaya headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
