Cody Brundage explains how Dustin Jacoby offered guidance, confidence to beat Michal Oleksiejczuk

LAS VEGAS – Cody Brundage received advice from his main training partner to help him prep for UFC Fight Night 216.

Brundage (8-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) faces Michal Oleksiejczuk (17-5 MMA, 5-3 UFC) in Saturday’s main card opener at the UFC Apex. The card streams on ESPN+.

With Brundage’s training partner Dustin Jacoby having beat Oleksiejczuk by unanimous decision at UFC 272 in March, Brundage knows what he has to do to get the job done.

“Dustin’s been a huge addition to my camp,” Brundage told MMA Junkie and other reporters at UFC Fight Night 216 media day on Wednesday. “Obviously he’s helped me get a lot better in striking and those kind of things, but just confidence wise, I know how much he believes in me. He’s been in there with the guy, and me and him train everyday and he’s like, ‘Listen, you just go be yourself, and you can get the win.’ And that confidence is huge.”

Riding a two-fight winning streak with back-to-back finishes, Brundage is an underdog for his fourth straight fight. But the 28-year-old sees it as a good career trajectory, where he’s fighting good-level competition.

“Michal is a beast, and I got to see him live in person when he fought Dustin,” Brundage said. “He’s super durable, he’s super tough, he never stops coming forward, and everything he throws is to take your head off, so he’s really not too much different than some of the guys I fought other than he’s really tough and has great pressure. I just think he has a few holes in his game that I can exploit. Some of the things he’s not the best that are things that I’m really good at. So on paper it’s a good matchup for me.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 216.