Mixed martial arts fighter and former UFC bantamweight champion Cody “No Love” Garbrandt shares in a new video for the non-profit “I Am Second,” how Christ saved him after an attempted suicide.
Garbrandt grew up in a family of fighters. He and his older brother, Zach fought for fun.
The 27-year-old who has a record of 11-2 said, “My brother was always bigger, faster, stronger, meaner than me growing up.” Garbrandt said. He always felt like he had something to prove.
Garbrandt wrestled during high school but eventually got involved in partying and doing drugs. They began to consume his life, he said.
“I was in a dark place – very very dark place,” Garbrandt said.
Life began to weigh on him and Garbrandt thought he was ready to end his life. He tried hanging himself. Garbrandt would have died if his brother had not walked in and stopped him.
In that moment, Zach hugged him and told him everything would be okay. This moment brought didn’t just bring him closer to his brother, but also closer to God.
“It was a changing point for me in my life,” Garbrandt said. “That moment, that bond and that thing that we went through really, you know, brought us even closer.”
“[We began] attending church services together. It was nice to be there with my big brother, worshipping God and growing towards Him,” Garbrandt said.
“…That was a start of a growing relationship with the Lord through going to the church, through reading different books about the Lord and just kind of growing my relationship with Him on a spiritual level of speaking to Him daily,” Garbrandt said.
When he looked back on his life, he sees how God carried Him again and again.
“Surrender is a foreign word to many fighters and was a foreign word to me in my life,” Garbrandt said. “But there’s a time and a place that you do need to surrender. And I’m always thankful that I’m able to surrender to Him…There’s a lot of life events that I can look back on that He was with me.”
“You know, sometimes He would be carrying me, pulling me, pushing me – [it was a] higher power, if you want to say. And that higher power was Jesus Christ. I always knew that He was with me.”
Garbrandt found his way out of this dark place and is now inspiring others with his story. Our God is an awesome God!