Cody Durden Shares What Changed His Mind About Fighting Teammate Bruno Silva

Cody Durden recently revealed why he accepted a fight against teammate Bruno Silva after initially turning it down.

Durden (16-5) and Silva (13-5) are slated to lock horns in a flyweight bout at UFC on ESPN 60 at The Apex in Las Vegas this weekend. Durden revealed that he was initially hesitant to accept a fight against his American Top Team teammate.

However, when their manager Ali Abdelaziz proposed the matchup, Silva allegedly accepted it, saying they were adults. That permanently flipped the switch for Durden who now wants to see blood come fight night. The 33-year-old said on the UFC on ESPN 60 media day:

“I didn’t really want to fight a teammate but we got the same manager Ali Abdelaziz,” Durden said at UFC Media Day. “And at first I turned the fight down. I don’t want to fight a teammate. But then Bruno, he accepted the fight and said we’re not boys. And that really lit a fire in me. I was like, ‘Alright motherfuc*er we’ll fight now.’… He's explosive, he’s going to come forward, probably try to wrestle me. But I’m coming for violence, I want to see blood. I’m coming for his head, I’m not getting in the cage to wrestle.

“It really altered my perspective overall. I have always been the type of guy, if you get in my way of anything I want, I don’t like it. For him to say he’ll fight me and I was always hesitant about fighting teammates. Now it doesn’t matter, whether we train or not. From this point forward, if you get in my way we’re fighting.”

After several years with Fight Ready and the Pitbull Brothers, Silva moved to ATT in Coconut Creek, Florida, about four months back. Meanwhile, although Durden’s home gym is ATT Team Lima in Georgia, he moves to the gym’s Coconut Creek facility for fight camps. While both fighters are currently in camp side-by-side, Durden believes Silva won’t benefit much from observing him.

“Bruno ended up moving to Top Team [ATT] Coconut Creek and that’s where I do all my fight camps. My home gym is American Top Team Lima with Douglas and Diego Lima… After I took the fight I showed up back down to Coconut Creek and everybody was like, ‘What the hell are you doing?’ I don’t care. It’s not going to help him, he can watch me train… He’s probably had guys in the gym that’s with him, that’s cornered him, watch me train. It goes both ways though. So Saturday night you’ll see my hand get raised.”

Durden suffered a submission loss against Tagir Ulanbekov in his last outing at UFC 296 in December 2023, which snapped a four-fight winning streak. Meanwhile, “Bulldog” is riding a three-fight finish streak and will return from a 15-month layoff.