[autotag]Cody Brundage[/autotag] is in an interesting position.
He’s about a week out from the biggest opportunity of his MMA career: a spot on the UFC 300 main card against a highly touted wrestling standout who will go into the fight as one of the biggest betting favorites in UFC history.
Brundage (10-5 MMA, 4-4 UFC) opens the UFC 300 main card at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas against Bo Nickal (5-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC), who is about a 25-1 favorite in the middleweight fight – and can be found as much as 30-1 at one online sportsbook.
But he also thinks even if he pulls off what would be a historic upset, the focus still will be on Nickal.
“No matter what, you won’t ever prove those people wrong (who think I don’t deserve it),” Brundage told MMA Junkie Radio. “I’ll go knock out Bo Nickal in the first round and everybody will be like, ‘Well, Bo was just too green. He didn’t have the experience. It was a fluke. There’ll be a ton of reasons. It won’t be that ‘Cody Brundage is way better than we thought … Cody Brundage is the next champ. Cody Brundage is’ all these things that they’re saying about Bo Nickal now. It’ll be more, ‘Well, it was a fluke’ or ‘Bo Nickal isn’t as good as we thought.’ I kind of am at peace with that. What other people say and the odds and things like that, it doesn’t really bother me. It doesn’t really influence my motivation.”
Brundage acknowledged the elite college wrestler is the reason their fight is on the main card, and that his popularity in his prior athletic pursuits help the cause of his placement on the pay-per-view ahead of the likes of former champion Jiri Prochazka, former champ Aljamain Sterling and the UFC debut of two-time PFL winner and two-time Olympic gold medalist Kayla Harrison.
Their placement has drawn the ire of a segment of the MMA fan base that thinks a card as prestigious as UFC 300, with as much star power as it has, features matchups more deserving of a main card slot. Even UFC lead play-by-play voice Jon Anik said the interest in Nickal seems to bear it out, and Brundage seems to agree.
“I know I’m on the main card. I could joke and be like, ‘You know, I carried Bo Nickal to the UFC 300 main card.’ But I know that’s not the case,” Brundage said. “I know he’s the reason we’re on the main card. I’m happy to be on the main card, obviously. All the fans complaining, at the end of the day, what that means is you get one fight that you really want to watch (for free), because if our fight sucks so bad it shouldn’t be on the main card, that means one fight that you think should be on the main card, you’re going to get for free.”
Brundage said Nickal might be experiencing the same phenomenon recently seen when Alex Pereira made the transition from elite kickboxer to MMA. He quickly rose up to beat Israel Adesanya for the middleweight title and now holds the light heavyweight belt.
Pereira headlines UFC 300 in a 205-pound title defense against former champ Jamahal Hill.
“I do think (Nickal) has a lot of star power,” Brundage said. “… Bo’s kind of similar to (Pereira). He has a ton of prestige and it’s a big following from his success in college wrestling, and those guys are going to tune in and watch him when he’s fighting. He had a huge following, and that always is what the UFC cares about. They want eyes on their pay-per-view. They want people to buy.
“Kayla Harrison-Holly Holm, that’s a great fight – former champ vs. other organization’s champ and Olympic champion. But if you ask me who’s going to get more eyes, Kayla Harrison or Bo Nickal, I think it’s probably going to be Bo Nickal. At the end of the day, it’s a business decision, and I think the lineup they put up for the main card is what they think would get the most buys.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 300.