Cody Stamann knew there was a ton of pressure on him heading into his UFC Austin fight against Eddie Wineland.
Stamann was on a three-fight losing streak and on the last fight of his deal and he knew he needed to get a big win. Heading into the fight, he had a lot of confidence that he wouldn’t just win, but would KO Wineland.
“Dude, it’s like getting a monkey off my back. I knew I was going to knock him out,” Stamann said to BJPENN.com. “Going into the fight, I truly believed that and I told my corner before the fight like don’t get comfortable it’s not going to last long. I wanted to go out there and get in a street fight and it’s always nice when the first time you hit them, they fall down. I haven’t experienced that in a long time.
“You live and die by the sword as an athlete and winning is everything,” Stamann continued. “It’s hard to be happy in life when your career is suffering and I felt that and it sucked. I was doing everything right and I wasn’t getting the result and to finally have the hard work pay off is a huge burden off me.”
Although Cody Stamann was confident he would finish Eddie Wineland, he said there was pressure to do just that. He says he needed a great performance in order to get re-signed and he did just that with a 59-second KO over Wineland.
Now, Stamann says he and the UFC agreed on a deal and plans to sign the contract extension in the coming days.
“I knew it wasn’t enough to just win and I was telling myself that. In my head, it was to get the knockout or die,” Stamann said. “Obviously, I was supposed to beat Eddie Wineland, and knowing that is huge as I’ve been the betting underdog for a long time and this felt like my opportunity to get things going. I am getting a new contract, I haven’t officially signed it but will in the coming days.”
With Stamann re-signing he isn’t sure what will be next for him but is open to fighting whoever and whenever.
“I would get back in there as soon as the UFC tells me to. If something comes up on short notice that is really good, I’ll jump on it,” Stamman concluded. “Either way, I’m not in a rush to get back in there but I didn’t take any damage so I can be back whenever.
Who would you like to see Cody Stamann fight next?