LAS VEGAS – Michal Oleksiejczuk is confident Cody Brundage won’t be able to get him to the ground at UFC Fight Night 216.
Winner of three of his past four, Oleksiejczuk (17-5 MMA, 5-3 UFC) faces Brundage (8-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) in Saturday’s main card opener at the UFC Apex. The card streams on ESPN+.
Coming off a first-round TKO of Sam Alvey in August, Oleksiejczuk will look to punish Brundage with his striking.
“Cody is a very good grappler,” Oleksiejczuk told MMA Junkie and other reporters at UFC Fight Night 216 media day on Wednesday. “He’s similar like Duraev. I think that Cody won’t take me down and (submit me). I must (show) takedown defense and destroy his face with my hard punches.”
Oleksiejczuk was originally scheduled to face Albert Duraev before being replaced by Brundage. The 27-year-old Polish fighter sees similarities in both matchups, which means he didn’t have to make too many changes.
“I think it’s a good change, because Cody is similar like Duraev,” Oleksiejczuk said. “I trained a lot of takedown defense, submission defense – this is a good change for me. I am ready.”
He continued, “My preparation for this fight was very similar.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 216.