Can you fight? If the answer in your head sounds like “Once I see red…”, then you can’t! Firstly, it’s a yes or no question, and, second, you are not The Hulk. But it’s difficult to accept that, isn’t it? Especially if you are an MMA fan, who’s watched far too much UFC. However, UFC fighter Cody Brundage is happy to burst your bubble.
Brundage last fought at UFC Denver in July 2024 against Abdul Razak Alhassan but had to bow out of the fight after being illegally struck twice in the back of his head. The match was ruled as a ‘No-Contest’ as a result of the DQ. However, in a bizarre turn of events, Brundage was severely criticized on social media for not continuing the fight.
8 months since that fateful day, Brundage has decided to address the events of the night. Speaking to Inside Fighting about the same, he asserted that since MMA has very few rules, if someone couldn’t follow them, people should be going after them and not their opponents. Further pointing out that people don’t want any explanations, he said that the audience doesn’t understand that UFC fighters aren’t soft.
Brundage explained that in sports like soccer or football, almost every fan in the stand has played the game at some point but that is not the case with MMA, as such they don’t understand the gravity of being illegally hit in the head and the long term damage it can do. Disappointed that fans call fighters soft for reacting to illegal blows the way he did, Bundage added,
“You just kind of come to expect it from the fans of the sport. I think the fans in the sport are great, very passionate but at the same time, they have never done the sport and they all think they can. Like, I don’t think I can go be Tom Brady… Pretty much every adult man thinks that they can fight. So when you mix that with alcohol… it becomes easy to say ‘Oh, I can do that sh*t’.”
Injuries to the back of the head are banned for a reason. It can lead to concussions and worse, cause permanent damage to the brain, paving the way for long-term ailments years in the future. And not that it would help, but UFC fighters make peanuts already, so most of them can’t afford to deal with it when the time comes.
Thankfully, despite public outrage at the time, Brundage had the support of MMA veterans who understood and empathized with his decision.
Brundage vs Alhassan: A closer look
The fight started with Alhassan kicking off straight into the 5th gear. Brundage looked visibly taken aback and at no point, had an answer to the onslaught. However, some of Alhassan’s shots kept connecting towards the back of his ears. After one too many shots strayed from the mark, the referee Dan Miragliotta stepped in to halt the fight and allowed Brundage a few minutes to recover before continuing.
However, Brundage realized there was just too much damage for him to continue with and told the UFC physician he would want the fight stopped.
Fans were split into two groups- one worried about Brundage’s health and hoping he was fine while the other claimed he was too soft and should have continued.
Former UFC fighter Kenny Florian was in the first group of people and argued that the middleweight fighter was in his right to call off the bout. Florian said that while nobody wants to see something like this happen, it is a tough spot to be in and there was no reason Brundage should have to continue after taking so much illegal damage.
Veteran coach Ray Longo, who was streaming a watch party with Florian and UFC commentator Jon Anik, echoed much of the sentiments and said,
“Listen man, those back-of-the-head shots are f***** brutal, you can get hit there and go blind so I wouldn’t want my guy fighting if he’s not healthy enough to fight in that situation because bad things are going to happen. Only Cody Brundage knows what really happened and what he was feeling but I can tell you, getting hit in the back of the head is illegal for a reason…”
Thankfully, Brundage did what he thought was right for his health and his family. Now, almost a year later, Brundage seems to have recovered and will now be concerning emerging talent, Youssef Zalal at UFC Fight Night 251 tomorrow.
