BJJ legend Rodolfo Vieira will be looking to get back in the win column in his next professional MMA fight, as he takes on Cody Brundage at UFC On ESPN+ 81 on April 29th, 2023. Vieira is one of the most successful BJJ competitors of all time, and five IBJJF World Championship gold medals and an ADCC title to his name. After winning pretty much everything there is to win in the world of Jiu-Jitsu competition, Vieira decided in 2017 that he was going to try his hand at MMA instead.
His professional MMA career took off like a rocket from the start, and he quickly put together a perfect 5-0 record with five finishes to earn his callup to the UFC. Things did start off well for Vieira in the world’s biggest MMA promotion, as he won both of his first two fights and added another two finishes to his record. At that point in 2019, Vieira was looking like he might be a force to be reckoned with in the promotion’s middleweight division.
Things started to go wrong though when Vieira came up against Anthony Hernandez at UFC 258 and was handed his first loss in MMA, by submission as well. He had cardio issues in the fight and appeared to address them pretty soon, as he rebounded with another submission win over Dustin Stoltzfus in his very next appearance. This was when Rodolfo Vieira was booked to fight against Cody Brundage for the first time, although he was hit with some poor luck and the fight had to be scrapped due to an injury.
That’s when disaster struck though, and Vieira feared his career may have come to an end prematurely. He had to undergo extensive medical testing with his time as a fighter hanging in the balance, although fortunately he was cleared to fight again. He returned to the UFC against Chris Curtis in 2022 and lost a unanimous decision, putting him at 1-2 in his last three fights. Now that fight with Brundage has been rebooked for UFC On ESPN+ 81 and with Brundage being an experienced wrestler with a 2-2 UFC career, Vieira should get the opportunity to put his elite Jiu-Jitsu on display at one point or another.
The news that Rodolfo Vieira was booked to compete against Cody Brundage at UFC On ESPN+ 81 on April 29th, 2023 was announced in a post to his official Instagram account:
