Cody McKenzie entered The Ultimate Fighter 12 with a perfect 10-0 record, the last nine via first round submission, and the last eight via a Guillotine variation dubbed The McKenzietine. In his UFC debut, fighting at lightweight on The Ultimate Fighter 12 Finale, McKenzie won the Submission of the Night, via McKenzietine.
It was an incredible start.
Then he lost two, won one, lost one and won one at featherweight, then returned to lightweight and lost one, and was cut. That was late in 2013.
In 2014 he went 1-2. In 2015 he went 0-2. This year he went 1-1, most recently tapping Valeriu Mircea with a McKenzietine in Italy in May.
Out of the UFC he was once disqualified for a head butt. He made weight for one fight via donating blood. He said he would fight Dana White for free. He retired and unretired. It wasn’t the path of someone fighting to get back into the UFC.
Since a brutal knee first Round KO to Beslan Isaev on December 17, 2014 in St. Petersburg, Russia, McKenzie takes fights if the money is there, and doesn’t if it isn’t.
During an appearance on MMAjunkie Radio, he said he splits his time between working on a fishing boat and working at Hang Roots, a marijuana growing facility for Washington state’s legal marijuana market.
I’m not trying to be world champion, said McKenzie, as transcribed by Steven Marrocco for MMAjunkie. I’m just trying to make money in the game.
I’m a good fighter, but I’m not world champ. Unless you’re the world champ in this sport, it’s pretty hard to make a payday.
If I feel it’s worth my time, I’ll do it, like a trip to Italy. But I work. Last year, I was probably on the fishing boats seven months out of the year.
The former featherweight fights on Friday vs. Joe Riggs at a catchweight of 180 lbs.
I’ve got a girl that feeds me, he explained.
A normal day for the now 28-year-old is trimming plants, watching highlight reels, listening to music, and maybe a little product testing.
I’ve always been a laborer, he said. I’m not too smart. But now that the marijuana industry is popping off, it’s a nice little way to make a chunk of change.
Cody McKenzie fights Joe Riggs in the co-main event of Fight Night 2, on the Oct. 28, in Medicine Hat, Alberta. You can watch via GoFightLive.
