It's not just about being smart. Cody has always done that, thrown caution to the wind and had his chin up when coming forward. It's completely ingrained in his technique, and when he fights with emotion he really can't change it in the moment. Also, he was rocked before that and never recovered. A lot of these moments happens in split seconds and you simply do not have time to think, it's all about reactions and that is Codys natural reaction. Most of the time he can get away with it and destroys people because of it, not this time.