Looking back on his win over Tom Duquesnoy at UFC 216 on October 10, bantamweight Cody Stamann feels like he could have had a more dominant output, but is nonetheless pleased with how the bout turned out.
“I don’t really think I had the greatest performance of my life, but Tom is a very tough opponent,” Stamann told MMAWeekly.com. “It’s huge, going in being the underdog against the next superstar of the bantamweight division and showing everyone that I am (the next superstar) not him.”
The fight was ruled a split-decision by the judges, and while Stamann admits he might have not won all three rounds, he believes the bout wasn’t close enough to warrant the kind of decision it received.
“I know the first round was close,” said Stamann. “I thought being the underdog, I could have easily lost that round, but I definitely won two and three, so when I heard split decision, there was some funny judging going on.
“There’s some judges who don’t know what they’re doing with us yet. There’s one judge that seems to be the opposing judge on every single decision. I wasn’t that surprised that it happened, because it’s happened in the past, but ultimately I won the fight and it showed on the judges’ scorecards.”
Cody Stamann guts out a tough split decision win over Tom Duquesnoy to close out of UFC 216 prelim card! PPV time! https://t.co/EYDJDdQ6wx
— FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) October 8, 2017
With just under two months left in 2017, Stamann doesn’t feel like he’ll fight again before the end of the year. And while he doesn’t completely rule it out if a great opportunity comes his way, Stamann is more focused on bettering himself for his 2018 campaign.
“I’m always in the gym, so it’s definitely not impossible for me to get back in there before the end of the year,” Stamann said. “Am I looking to compete in the next two or three months? No. I would like to take a little bit of time to work and improve, that way I can be a better version of myself going into this next fight.
“If something pops up, I’ll take it, but I’m probably looking at three or four months before I get back in there.”
When he does return to action, Stamann has a very clear picture on what kind of opposition he would like to face when he comes back.
“I want somebody in the Top 10,” said Stamann. “There’s a few guys in the Top 10 that I know I can beat. In my next fight I want a contender, I want somebody that’s tough, I want to be the underdog again and whoop another person that will allow me to get better in this sport.”
