UFC middleweight Julian Marquez had to do a double take when he saw his opponent at UFC Vegas 103 on Saturday night was none other than Cody Brundage.
“When we first got it I was sitting there like, ‘Woah we used to train together man,'” Marquez told reporters on Wednesday.
“What are we doing? We don’t fight teammates. Then it got there that he accepted the fight and I was like okay. That’s it. We’re here to battle.”
Marquez (9-5) clearly wasn’t thrilled about fighting a former training partner, but once Brundage accepted, it was all business.
“This is where we are. This is the business we’re in. Has nothing to do with the friendship that we have, has nothing to do there. We both have to fight for our job,” he said.
“So when I got that I was like hell yeah let’s go. Got another fight.”
Even though he’s fighting a friend Marquez isn’t taking the matchup personally. The unwritten rule of not fighting friends or teammates, even former ones, is seldom broken. It does happen however.
“I don’t feel any betrayal at all. The opportunity comes to his door, he has to make the judgement, and then our manager comes to talk to us. That’s it. It’s the business,” he said.
“He owes no explanation. I understand.”
Watch the entire media day scrum with Julian Marquez above. He takes on Cody Brundage at UFC Vegas 103 on Saturday night.
