People say he is what War Machine could have been. I don't know the basis for the comparison, but an MMA journalist made it. And I am sort of seeing the comparison now.
I'd guess Cody had some type of troubled upbringing and head issues like War machine. I'll take cocky over crazy. He is dedicated and disciplined to the sport now and I can respect that, even if he was probably the asshole beating lay people up in the street a ways back.