‘That was the fight I needed’

LAS VEGAS – Cody Brundage can breathe a little easier following his latest fight in the octagon.

Winless in his most recent two performances prior to Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 253 and on the last fight of his contract, Brundage (11-6 MMA, 5-5 UFC) had a lot on the line facing Julian Marquez in the co-main event of the card. A loss to Marquez (9-6 MMA, 3-5 UFC) could’ve prompted his exit from the UFC, upping the pressure.

“I’m at peace. I’m just happy, man,” Brundage told reporters at the UFC Fight Night 253 post-fight press conference. “When you feel like you’re going to lose your dream, it can be really tough. So to kind of take your dream back is empowering and it feels really good. I’m just at a good place.

“Maybe it wasn’t the fight I wanted. I wanted it to be super smooth, take him out and be super slick, but I think that was the fight I needed.”

Brundage came close to losing the fight. He appeared to be badly hurt by Marquez toward the end of the opening round. However, Brundage was able to hang in, turn things around to scored a wild TKO stoppage over a friend and former training partner.

“I came with a super slick (strategy), touch, don’t get hit, but sometimes fighting don’t work out that way,” Brundage said. “I know I landed a hard knee and a hard uppercut, and I saw he was hurt. I know I have good killer instinct. … I’ll have to go back and watch the fight. I don’t remember sh*t. We were getting after it.”

As far as what’s next, Brundage wants to take a different approach to his fighting career.

“I know some guys just got booked, and some of the guys that got booked were on that list,” Brundage said. “I don’t need to be like I was. I don’t need to fight six times in 14 months. If a good opportunity comes, hell yeah. But the first thing I want to do is go home to my girls and my wife and just give them the time they deserve.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 253.