Cody Haddon | Allow Me to Re-Introduce Myself

“I thought after the Contender Series, I would get back to Perth and really celebrate, but there was none of that; it was straight into a camp. I think Vegas, my debut, was kind of a celebration for both of those moments, and at the time, I just felt more like ‘this is where I belong’ and more complete, in a sense; ‘now I’m doing what I set out to do.’

“It actually felt like more of a relief,” he added. “Now it’s fun, because I’ve done it. Win, lose, or draw, I’m competing against the best guys in the world like I set out to do the whole time.”

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The fact that Haddon was the first from his season to register a victory and that it meant fulfilling the ambition he’d carried since he was six years old made it feel like 2025 was going to be a breakout year for the Luistro Combat Academy product, but instead, it’s been an absolute nightmare up until now.

While it took a little time to find him an opponent for his sophomore appearance, Haddon was ticketed to welcome Alexandre Topuria to the promotion at UFC 312 in Sydney in February. A date against pound-for-pound standout Ilia Topuria’s older brother, on a numbered event, in his home country, felt like a perfect potential breakout moment, especially with his teammate and fellow DWCS Class of ’24 alum Quillan Salkilld set to make the walk as well.

But a couple of weeks before the fight, Haddon threw a kick in sparring, caught a knee, and came away with a fracture in his foot that forced him out of the contest. He spent the next eight weeks in a boot, then went through a rigorous rehab program to not only ensure his foot was structurally sound and wouldn’t give him any further issues, but to rebuild the strength on his entire lower right side, as the injury had left him unable to do much of anything.

Finally cleared and back on the mats for his first jiu-jitsu session, he and his training partner heard a pop as they rolled, and both immediately knew something was amiss. When the limp he came away from training with didn’t get better in a couple of days, Haddon was once again forced to get checked out.

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A partially torn lateral collateral ligament put him back on the sidelines again and left the now 27-year-old questioning his methods, his body, and his future.

“It makes you just start questioning ‘is my body even capable of doing this s***?’ because every single time there seems to be some problem that happens,” said Haddon, who dealt with untimely injuries throughout his time on the regional circuit as well. “Then I start comparing myself to other people, like, ‘What am I doing that they aren’t doing?’ or ‘Am I doing something wrong? Am I cutting corners?’ and there’s no answer.

“This year, I’ve spent the entire year doing rehab. I’ve not cut any corners. I do the best I can to keep my body (in good shape) and not get injured, and then something happens and, and, and…”

He trailed off and took a breath.

“It’s quite f***ing depressing, bro, because you put everything into it and your body goes ‘F*** you!’ anyway,” he added, laughing at the ridiculous sounding statement that feels like an accurate representation of how things have gone for him of late. “It’s like you have a brand new car — there’s fuel in it, it’s fully serviced, and you go to start it, and it says, ‘F*** you!’ and breaks down.”

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Haddon continued to laugh before acknowledging that while he refuses to carry a victim mindset even in the wake of a year spent away from competition, he’s also had to reconcile the reality that before some of the biggest moments of his career, his body has failed him.

“As much as I want to be positive, when something like that happens, it affects you mentally.”

What adds to the frustration are the frequent reminders of just how short the attention spans and memories of MMA fans can be that pop up in his messages on a regular basis.

“People message me on social media and say, ‘Can’t wait for your debut!’” he said, shaking his head. “The Contender Series was still going on, and I debuted. I think I was the first guy from that season to debut, and it’s not talked about; no one seems to remember it.

“I get it all the time, and it annoys me a lot, but it’s been over a year since I fought, so it makes sense,” added Haddon. “If you don’t fight in six months, you don’t exist; people have got goldfish memories.”

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While having a goldfish memory was something Ted Lasso encouraged the members of Richmond FC to have early in his tenure with the squad, fading from memory is not something a fighter ever wants to do, especially not in as competitive and robust a division as bantamweight.

Seemingly every week, another set of ‘35ers saunters into the Octagon and sets it ablaze, confirming why so many believe it to be the best division in the sport at the moment. In order to make headway in the crowded field, an athlete needs to compete routinely, deliver memorable performances, or make like Grandpa Simpson and offer a little of Column A and a little of Column B, and so far this year, Haddon has done neither, but all that has the potential to change on Saturday when he steps in with fellow Class of ’24 grad and burgeoning star Malcolm Wellmaker.

“It’s kind of cool how it came about,” Haddon said of the pairing with the Georgia native, who has registered a pair of first-round knockout wins to open his UFC career. “I kind of asked for it.”

Ready and willing to jump into action, had anyone fallen out of the show in his hometown at the end of September, Haddon and his management team reached out to the UFC matchmakers a few weeks prior to the show, informing them of his availability. After Wellmaker mentioned his desire to compete again on social media, they made it clear that was a fight the 8-1 prospect was eager to take.

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Informed that Wellmaker was booked, Haddon returned to training when a friend sent him Serhiy Sidey’s Instagram post explaining that he’d dislocated his shoulder and would be forced to withdraw from his scheduled bout with “The Machine” at Madison Square Garden. Haddon’s manager quickly let the UFC brass know that was still a fight he was eager to take.

“I’m grateful that they thought this made sense and that they think I’m worthy enough to face him, and grateful that I actually get to fight this year,” he said of landing the short-notice opportunity and chance to share the Octagon with one of the hottest fighters on the roster.

Wellmaker earned his contract the week after Haddon with a first-round knockout win over Adam Bramhald that pushed his professional record to 9-0 with six finishes. In April, he walked off Cameron Saaiman, felling the South African with the same right hook that did Bramhald in, and less than two months later, he thrilled the partisan crowd at State Farm Arena in Atlanta with a similar effort against durable veteran Kris Moutinho to fully establish himself as an ascending threat in the 135-pound weight class.

“Malcolm is a formidable opponent, and he’s got a lot of hype,” began Haddon, offering his thoughts on his opponent and the matchup itself. “He’s been sleeping dudes with the same punch the last three fights; it’s very impressive, and he has a lot of power.

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“I feel like I have a hard task ahead, but that’s why I’m here: I’m here to be the best and test myself against the best, and I think right now, Malcolm, with the trajectory he’s on, he’s on a trajectory to be the best, so I want to prove my worth and see what I can do in there.”

On a card of this magnitude and in a fight featuring one of the biggest breakout stars of the year, this was always going to be a narrative surrounding this weekend’s contest, and with Haddon filling in for Sidey on short notice, you can understand that it’s not a particularly favorable one for the Australian.

Fortunately, the returning prospect has the absolute right approach when it comes to all the discussions and chatter swirling around his matchup with Wellmaker at MSG.

“Every fight, the stakes are bigger, higher all the time, but I think all that is an illusion anyway; that’s all stuff that other people think,” he said, admitting his anxiety would be the same if they were fighting in his back garden, and noting that the only thing that matters is what transpires once he’s locked in the Octagon with Wellmaker and whichever official is assigned to chaperone the two of them on Saturday evening in NYC.

“That’s the only thing I can control, and with all the other stuff, I’m not gonna pay attention to what people are saying on Reddit and social media because these guys are wrong most of the time. I know what I’m worth, I know what I can do, and I’m a hidden gem.”

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Provided things go as planned this weekend, that designation will no longer apply to Haddon come Sunday morning.

“After this fight, people will know who I am, regardless of the outcome,” he said with a smile. “Obviously, I’m confident going in there, but I know it’s gonna be a helluva fight, and both our stocks are gonna rise after this fight.

“People have seen a little bit of me, but there are still so many tools that I haven’t shown, that people don’t know about; tools that I haven’t shown in my pro or amateur career. There are tools I have that I haven’t pulled out, and I will only pull them out when I need them, and this fight, I’ll probably need them.”

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He laughed, fully accepting of the likely dangers that await him inside the Octagon. But to the victor go the spoils, and after a frustrating 12 months stuck on the sidelines, Haddon has a chance to set all that behind him and catapult himself into the spotlight in the 135-pound weight class this weekend.

“I’m gonna steal some of his buzz; that’s what I’m setting out to do,” said Haddon. “I think after this fight, a lot of Australians, a lot of people worldwide will know they have another Perth boy that they can back.”