LAS VEGAS – Cody Brundage hopes to get past the weird outcomes.
In his past five fights, Brundage (11-8-1 MMA, 5-7-1 UFC) has seen a no contest, a win, and a draw, followed by consecutive losses. He looks to gain some consistency when he takes on Donte Johnson (7-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) on Saturday’s prelims (Paramount+, CBS) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
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Brundage admits the inconsistencies have taken a mental toll on him.
“It would be great to be like I don’t dwell on it, but I do,” Brundage said at Wednesday’s media day. “I think that’s some of the issues I’ve had in my career is there’s a lot of ups and downs, a lot of weird things that a lot of times are out of my control. It would be great to sit here and talk to you guys and be like, I don’t let it bother me, it plays no effect on my mental, but that would be a lie. It definitely does.
“You just hope you can overcome those things. I feel like for me, it’s never really been a physical issue. I think in all of my fights, there’s glimpses of OK, this kid is talented, but it’s just overcoming some of the mental hurdles and that’s 90 percent of the game. So, if you can’t do that, it’s going to be hard to stick around. Hopefully this one, we figure some sh*t out.”
Brundage is no stranger to drawing top prospects and he’ll get another one in Johnson, who boasts a 100 percent finish rate.
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“He’s super talented, very explosive, danger fighter, super well-spoken,” Brundage said of Johnson. “Seems like a good dude. I mean, I don’t know a ton about him. I’ve been that kid. I’ve been the 26-year-old, undefeated, finished everybody, and then I got to the UFC. I think growing up in the UFC is hard.
“They obviously recognize that he has a lot of talent if they’re matchmaking (him against) me. This is my 15th UFC fight, and this is his second. So, obviously they see something, and it’s my job not to let somebody build a name off me, but for sure all the credit in the world to him. He’s super talented, and I’m excited to get in there.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Cody Brundage admits mixed results in UFC have been mentally taxing
