NEW YORK — Cody Garbrandt got a pair of championship pep talks in the week leading up to the biggest fight of his career: Kobe Bryant and Mike Tyson each stopped by for a motivational pick-me-up and to rub elbows with perhaps UFC's next big thing.
Garbrandt yearns to share more than championships with the stars — he wants to be stamped with the same greatness that defined them.
The 26-year-old Garbrandt, a tattooed tough guy with remarkable charisma out of Ohio, makes his first defense of his 135-pound title Saturday night at UFC 217 at Madison Square Garden.