It isn't, though. A part of me feels for Cody. Not because he fought a cheater, because he apparently knew that TJ was cheating back when they were teammates and had no problem keeping silent then. But because he is one of the most exaggerated examples of a "flash in the pan" in MMA history
But the fight against Rob Font proved a couple of things about Cody to me
1) He is not truly a good striker. He has speed, power, and sometimes good or very good offensive boxing, which is how he was able to acquire some cool highlight reel KOs. But he has almost no defense. For someone so lauded for his speed, he tends to just stand there and eat punches because he has no true defensive skills. And he has never shown interest in making grappling a big part of his game, so it's clear that his days as a contender are over
2) He is too small for 135. He himself has talked about how little weight he cuts. I guess that could be seen as commendable? I dunno, but it's not a viable long-term strategy in the UFC. By the end of the fight against Font, Font easily grabbed Cody's leg off of a leg kick and literally just shoved him. Every time Font landed clean, Cody's head moved like a Pez dispenser. I guess you could say that he was rolling his head with the punches, but to me it looked like a guy who is just fighting a much larger man
Cody is an example of a guy who has allowed his decision-making out of the cage to clearly waste his potential inside of the cage. He needs to let go of this feud with TJ, because a young guy like him should not allow one other guy to define his legacy. He should be pursuing his own legacy and he should be at 125 where he belongs
Cody just stood in the pocket and ate I have no idea how many of Fonts's shots. Nobody is going to want to see him fight TJ because even if you like Cody you would have to assume that he'd get KOd again. Cody is just a frustratingly stupid person. Or egotistical. People tend to give him a pass on his arrogance because they assume he is too stupid to be self aware, but it is one or the other. Either he is just too stupid to be a top pro athlete or he is too arrogant to get out of his own way