Most UFC fighters talk about chasing a dream since childhood. Cody Brundage tells a different story. He did not walk into the sport chasing glory on his own. His wife, former UFC fighter Amanda Brundage, is the one who set him on that path, and later made a sacrifice that kept him there.
A fighting family, but not his idea
Cody Brundage was born in Chapin, South Carolina, in 1994, into a household shaped by athletic achievement. His mother competed for Team USA in biathlon at the Olympic level, and his father served in Special Forces. His younger brother plays lacrosse, and his sister competes in Division I soccer. Discipline was part of daily life growing up, yet fighting was never the expected path. His parents have said they still find it hard to watch him compete.
Everything changed when Cody met Amanda Cooper at an MMA gym while he was still new to the sport. Amanda was already building her own career as a professional fighter, and she went on to compete in the UFC and Invicta FC. The two grew close inside the gym, and their relationship ended up driving Cody’s career forward rather than pulling focus away from it.
The push that started it all
Brundage has said it was Amanda who told him it was time to commit fully. Once he signed with the UFC, she was direct with him. She had competed at that level herself, she understood what it demanded, and she believed it was his turn to take on the fighter role while she stepped back. Brundage has described her decision as taking on more of the parenting responsibilities so he could focus on his career, a trade that reshaped both of their lives.
That decision is really what the ONX clip is pointing to. Cody Brundage’s UFC career did not begin with pure personal ambition. It began with his wife making a choice about what their family needed, and Cody following through on it.
Then came the hardest test
The timing made that sacrifice even more significant. Brundage made his UFC debut against Nick Maximov at UFC 266 in September 2021, a short notice fight held at T Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Just before that debut, he and Amanda received difficult news. Their nine month old daughter, Kingsley, had been diagnosed with a condition affecting her development. Brundage has said the couple was still trying to process what that meant in the days leading up to the fight.
Kingsley’s diagnosis was later identified as ALG13, an extremely rare gene mutation with only around 40 known cases worldwide. The condition causes significant developmental delays along with seizures and epilepsy. Amanda chose to step away from her own plans to return to the UFC and trained as a Certified Nursing Assistant so she could care for Kingsley properly, putting her comeback on hold indefinitely.
Brundage has spoken openly about what that sacrifice means to him. He has said that not giving his full effort to his own career would feel disrespectful to everything Amanda gave up for their family.
Turning the sacrifice into fuel
Instead of letting the situation weigh him down, Brundage has used it as motivation. His breakout UFC win came against Dalcha Lungiambula at UFC Vegas 50 in March 2022, a guillotine finish that earned him a Performance of the Night bonus. That bonus money went directly toward his daughter’s care. Brundage has credited much of Kingsley’s progress to Amanda’s dedication, once noting that his daughter did not sit up on her own until age three, a milestone he attributes to his wife’s work with her.
Where Cody Brundage stands now
Brundage has built a career defined by persistence as much as skill. After his debut against Maximov, he picked up a highlight reel first round knockout over Tresean Gore at UFC on ESPN 39 and later tested himself against elite grapplers such as Rodolfo Vieira. He now competes out of Factory X in Englewood, Colorado, where he also coaches wrestling. A decorated wrestler out of Newberry College, Brundage holds a professional record hovering around 11 wins, 9 losses and 1 draw.
He has also been candid about how difficult his early days in the sport were. He took his first professional fight while living out of his car and did not tell his parents he had accepted the bout until they saw it on social media.
The bigger picture
The idea that his wife chose the fight life for him holds up on more than one level. Amanda pushed Cody toward the UFC at a point when he had the talent but perhaps not the full resolve. Later, when their family faced a serious crisis, she made an even harder choice, setting aside her own dream so his could continue. In a sport built around individual toughness, Cody Brundage’s story is a reminder that some of that toughness comes from the people standing just outside the cage.
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