Derek Brunson

Derek T Brunson is an American mixed martial artist born on the 4th of January 1984 in Wilmington North Carolina. He fights in the UFC middleweight division. Brunson wrestled as a youngster but decided to focus full time on MMA after he graduated.

Photo via UFC.com

Derek Brunson’s career before the UFC

Derek Brunson made his pro MMA debut in May of 2010 and choked out John Bryant. He continued his finishing streak for his first 6 fights which garnered him a Strikeforce contract. Brunson’s Strikeforce debut came in 2011 and he won the fight by unanimous decision. 3 out of his 4 fights in 2011 was in Strikeforce and he was undefeated through that year.

In 2012 he got a titleshot in ShoFight and faced Kendall Grove. Brunson lost the fight by unanimous decision and returned to Strikeforce to fight Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, who he also lost to.

Derek Brunson in the UFC

Derek Brunson made his UFC debut in december of 2012 and defeated Chris Leben. In his next fight he defeated Brian Houston by unanimous decision. Brunson then fought top contender Yoel Romero and lost by TKO late in the 3rd round.

After the loss to Romero Brunson went on a winning streak of 5 straight fights, beating top competition like Uriah Hall, Roan Carneiro, Lorenz Larkin and Ed Herman. The winning streak was stopped by Robert Whittaker who TKO’d Brunson in the first round.

Derek Brunson Photo: Daniel Patinkin

He lost a controversial decision to Anderson Silva in his next fight, a fight most people thought he won. He came back from the losing streak by defeating Daniel Kelly by knockout in the first round.