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USA Today
14-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Cody Brundage not intimidated by unbeaten Mansur Abdul-Malik\u00a0at UFC Atlanta
Cody Brundage not intimidated by unbeaten Mansur Abdul-Malik at UFC Atlanta Show Caption Hide Caption Cody Brundage UFC Atlanta Media Day Cody Brundage speaks to the media at Wednesday's media day for UFC Atlanta. ATLANTA – Cody Brundage met the media Wednesday ahead of his fight at UFC on ESPN 69. Brundage (11-6 MMA, 5-5 UFC) takes on the unbeaten Mansur Abdul-Malik (8-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) in a middleweight fight on the ESPN main card at State Farm Arena in Atlanta. At media day, Brundage took questions from media members before his fight. Brundage is the second biggest underdog on the card. If he beats Abdul-Malik, who is as much as a 9-1 betting favorite, it will be one of the biggest upsets in UFC history – literally. But the 31-year-old, who has won three of his past four fights, all by first-round knockout, said the odds don't concern him. "I'm definitely the most experienced guy he's ever fought – I have more fights in the UFC than he has in his entire career," Brundage told MMA Junkie. "Experience goes a long way. Yeah, he's tough. The tougher the guys I fight, I think it pulls my skills out. The better the guy I'm fighting, all the pressure, it pulls something out of me that makes me be great. I'm just excited for it. "… He's got a ton of momentum right now, and if you put him in the fire and make him face a little bit of a adversity, he hasn't really been there. He doesn't know how to respond to that, and that's my job Saturday." Check out Brundage's full media day interview in the video above.
USA Today
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Miranda Maverick relishes big UFC on ESPN 69 showdown with 'friend' Rose Namajunas
Miranda Maverick relishes big UFC on ESPN 69 showdown with 'friend' Rose Namajunas Show Caption Hide Caption Miranda Maverick UFC Atlanta Media Day Miranda Maverick speaks to the media ahead of her fight vs. Rose Namajunas at UFC Atlanta. ATLANTA – For someone who's about to engage in a fist fight with one of her friends, Miranda Maverick is pretty chill about it. Maverick meets Rose Namajunas in the women's flyweight co-main event Saturday at UFC on ESPN 69 from State Farm Arena. And when they step into the cage, there will be no secrets. Maverick, who's No. 11 in the official UFC rankings at 125 pounds, has a golden opportunity to add the biggest win of her career against a former UFC champion in No. 7 Namajunas – whom she just so happens to consider a friend. Maverick (15-5 MMA, 8-3 UFC) and Namajunas (13-7 MMA, 11-6 UFC) have spent plenty of time together as training partners in Colorado. Maverick welcomes the added friendly element of familiarity heading into the fight. "It feels amazing. It's almost no pressure, you know, because Rose and I have trained together, we know exactly what each other's gonna try to do," Maverick told reporters, including MMA Junkie, on Wednesday at UFC on ESPN 69 media day. "So it's been a hard camp. We've been pushing through this camp like no other, ready for all the pressure that we know Rose is gonna throw our way. It's just gonna be a game of fight IQ and tenacity and mental toughness, I think, at the end of the day." Maverick, 27, is on a four-fight winning streak heading into UFC on ESPN 69. While a win certainly would be huge, she wouldn't quite declare herself worthy of a title shot. But make no mistake: Winning is the goal. If hurting a friend is what it takes, she has no reservations. "I'm excited," Maverick said. "(Namajunas has) been an inspiration for the longest time, a friend I would call her, and now a rival. We'll go back to being friends after this fight."
