Cody Brundage (10-6) may have to endure the wrath of Abdul Razak Alhassan (12-6) through no fault of his own in a bout scheduled for this weekend.
Alhassan (12-6) and Brundage (10-6) are both scheduled to fight in front of a home crowd at UFC on ESPN 59 on July 13 at Denver’s Ball Arena. Alhassan vented his pent-up anger at UFC Denver media day, vowing to unleash his worst wrath on Brundage on fight day.
“I have a devil inside me and I’m going to unleash my devil on that motherfucker,” Alhassan said. “Obviously, my words are going to make it sound like I hate him. I don’t have anything against him. I swear to God, I’m going to unleash my devil on that motherfucker.”
Alhassan’s anger stems from past sexual assault charges for which he was later acquitted. In 2018, while he was working as a bouncer at a bar in Fort Worth, Texas, two women, ages 20 and 22, accused him of raping them at one of their homes after a party. Alhassan has always denied the allegations and maintained he had consensual sex with one of the women. Alhassan’s defense argued that the charges were made to appease a jealous boyfriend of one of the women. The UFC fighter was finally acquitted of all charges after nearly two years.
Alhassan admitted he is still trying to cope with the psychological trauma he experienced but has not had much success.
“There was a time in my life when I was criticized so badly. I’m not going to lie, it messed me up mentally. I swear to God. After every fight, I tried to bounce back and find that person I was back then, but no matter what I did, I just couldn’t find them. I feel ashamed when I’m there because it’s the most evil, most disgusting thing you can attack someone with. I’m a very proud person. [like that] It’s very offensive to have that attached to my name.”
Prior to his indictment in 2018, Alhassan had won 10 of his previous 11 fights by first-round knockout. The once promising fighter returned to the Octagon in 2020 but suffered three straight disappointing bouts. Alhassan has since gone 2-2 in his last four fights, most recently submitting Joe Pifer in October 2023. But the Ghanaian is grateful to Pifer for bringing out the demons within him, and he plans to unleash them in his next bout against Brundage. “I’m not going to let go,” Alhassan said through gritted teeth.
“In my head, I thought I was cured, I was fixed. But I swear to God, I’m never going to be fixed. … Thank you [Joe]
I beat Pifer in the final fight… I feel like that guy made me find the fucking demon inside of me, thinking only of myself. I’ll cry, I’ll do everything I have to, but I’ll never give up. It’s fucking time, I swear to God, I can’t wait to get my hands on that motherfucker. The rage inside of me, [clenches teeth and fists]”, I’m going to get revenge on this motherfucker. I’m going to get the revenge that I couldn’t get on those evil motherfuckers, the revenge that the law never allowed on those motherfuckers, I’m going to get on this motherfucker.”
