The Pact

By: Cody Garbrandt, Mark Dagostino

Narrated by: Dave Hoffman

Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

A UFC champion and a boy with leukemia in the fight of their lives.

Cody Garbrandt dreamed of being a UFC champion. In his darkest moments, when those dreams were dashed, he dug deep with the help of an unlikely friend - five-year-old Maddux Maple, a local hometown fan with leukemia. They made a pact: Cody would be in the UFC and win the championship, and Maddux would beat cancer.

Hear their moving story in Cody's new book, The Pact, and go behind the scenes into Cody's training and how he made his dreams come true.

Cody Garbrandt grew up in a rough town in the Central Appalachian region of Ohio, surrounded by a longstanding culture of fighting - and drugs. Raised in this environment by a single mom (his dad left him at the young age of three to reside in the Ohio State Penitentiary), Cody grew up fighting, and he grew up wild. His future seemed predestined to end in the coal mines or in prison.

Thankfully, Cody had visions of something more. His American dream? Mixed martial arts. But a path to success wasn't clear. He spent as much time fighting in the streets as he did in the gym - one bad decision away from losing everything. Then, at age 20, Cody's brother introduced him to five-year-old Maddux Maple. Maddux was deathly ill with leukemia, his survival by no means assured. A unique friendship developed, and they made a promise to each other: Maddux would beat cancer, and Cody would make it to the UFC and become world champion.

Through five long years of pain and hardship, they both persevered; Cody through the agony and sacrifices of fighting his way to the top and Maddux through the horrors of chemotherapy. They loved and supported each other. They served as each other's inspiration. And in December 2016, they made good on their pact: Cody won his UFC championship belt, which he promptly presented to Maddux - the boy who had beaten cancer into remission.

©2018 Cody Garbrandt (P)2018 Thomas Nelson Publishers

Loved this story

Loved this story, the narrator was good. Very easy to listen to! This is one you could definitely listen to more than once

INSPIRING!!!

being able to hear the rise of Cody was inspiring and engaging. Def recommend

Good story. Cody is a very driven young man.

This is a cool story about a young man chasing his dream and not letting anything get in his way. Glad I read it.

Educational and moving

Story
Most people can hardly imagine growing up as Cody did, myself included until listening. There were so many ups and downs, but the pace was real fast. My wanting Cody to reach his goal provided me with plenty of suspense.

Narration
I think the performer captured the tone, was appropriate and without errors.

Overall
This was both entertainment and education. I learned enough to make me happy even not counting the entertainment value.

Best book I’ve ever listened to

This book is awesome it is such a great story and motivational I started listening to it and got hooked and I actually learned a lot of stuff from this book

My favorite book

Love to read about the hidden side of his UFC and MMA career. My favorite book

Inspirational

This is such a wonder story of how no matter how hard life gets, there's is someone going through more. There were a few parts when I had to take a break because I started to tear up. Never stop fighting Cody and Maddox!

A good book from start to finish

My original plan was to purchase a copy at my local Books a Million but when I found the audio book I immediately purchased it. I didn’t go wrong. I enjoyed it from start to finish because it not only told the story of Cody’s life but it also brought to life how he got to meet Maddux and how they became family. I definitely recommend this book, if it were a physical book it would be a page turner.

Enjoyed

I’ve never been a fan of Cody he has always came off as a dbag and his book has confirmed it. I will say I did gain some respect for him for what he has done with and for the kid.

Amazing book!

This book had such an amazing story and I couldn’t stop listening. It really shows how one person can change your life forever.