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Derek Brunson has revealed that Anderson Silva was the most challenging opponent he has faced in his career as a mixed martial artist.
Fighting in UFC since 2012, Brunson has been one of the most successful Middleweight fighters in the promotion. In his 17 bouts for the company, he has aggregated 12 victories and only five losses.
Speaking to "The Schmo" podcast about his career ahead of his next bout at UFC Fight Night 188, Derek Brunson pondered over what opponent offered him the most challenging match of his career.
"My toughest opponent to date was, I don't know, maybe Anderson [Silva]. He was just a guy who wouldn't give you a lot. He's very meticulous. He has a lot of techniques, so he's a guy who's not going to create a lot of openings, so you have to kind of like solve that puzzle on the fly, you know," Derek Brunson analyzed.
"Whereas when I fought him, he wasn't in the 'prime-prime' in his, you know, prime of primes, but he was still a guy who could go out there and put together a good fight," he added.
Derek Brunson could not give only one name as an example since he has competed against some of the best fighters in the 185 lb weight class.
"Lyoto [Machida] too, you know," Derek Brunson said. "That's the guy who you have got to figure him out. You have to catch him coming in. Early in that fight, it was kind of hard for me to make reads and figure things out, and then eventually I figured it out and caught him on the way it."
Currently sitting at No. 7 in the division's rankings, Derek Brunson will enter the octagon once more on March 20 to face Middleweight sensation Kevin Holland.
Derek Brunson and Kevin Holland made a bet for their fight
The feud between UFC middleweight contenders Kevin Holland and Derek Brunson has come to a new chapter as "Trailblazer" wrote a statement reprimanding his future opponent for swapping gyms.
"Uncrowned king more like an uncrowned queen. You b*tch too much, and instead of bringing great staff to your own gym, you fled to another gym. You have no castle, Derek Brunson. Work your *ss off, my boy, because I want to party hard on March 20th," Holland wrote.
In addition to the criticism, Holland also revealed a bet between the two. According to him, Derek Brunson has agreed to a $20,000 stake for whoever lands a takedown first in their upcoming fight. However, Holland now wants to revert that money to charity.
"And, yeah, let's make that 20k bet a 10k bet on each side to charity if either one of us lands that taken down we both pay," Holland suggested.
