Cody Stamann Gives Emotional Interview at UFC 250 on Brother Jacob's Death

Cody Stamann entered the Octagon at UFC 250 in mourning following the sudden death of his 18-year-old brother, Jacob, last week.

After defeating Brian Kelleher via unanimous decision Saturday, Stamann continued to grieve, beginning to weep as soon as the fight was over.

"I've been fighting tears all day, just trying to hold everything together," Stamann said after the decision was announced. "It's a hard time for me. I had to buckle up and be a man and get this done for him, for my family, and myself."

There were some who believed Stamann would pull out of the weekend's bout altogether ahead of Saturday's event.

Speaking to MMA Junkie's Dave Doyle ahead of UFC 250, Stamann said he stayed on the card because his brother would have wanted him to fight.

"People were like, 'Hey, if you want to postpone this, wait a little longer, that's 100 percent understandable,'" Stamann said. "I just thought what most people think, I think, in those situations. What would the person that passed, what would they want me to do? And I can say without a shadow of a doubt he would want me to compete. He loved watching me compete, and I know that's what he would want."

Staman and his brother were hoping to see each other after he finished his UFC 250 bout.

"It was super unexpected, super unexpected," Stamann said of Jacob's death. "We had just made plans to have him come out. We actually canceled plans because of COVID-19. My mom didn't want him flying while everything was happening. So we kind of postponed our plans and then I got a fight and then it was, 'Hey, you'll come out here right after I fight.'"

The victory for Stamann, 30, comes after his December draw against Song Yadong at UFC on ESPN: Overeem vs. Rozenstruik. The Michigan native has now won 12 of his last 14 bouts, last falling to Aljamain Sterling at UFC 228 in 2018.

Kelleher, meanwhile, has now dropped his third bout in his last five matchups. The loss to Stamann snaps a streak of back-to-back wins over Hunter Azure and Ode Osbourne.

Stamann and Kelleher fought at featherweight because of the fight taking place on shorter notice. The two usually compete at bantamweight.