Derek Brunson had a brilliant run between August 2014 and September 2016. During that 13-month stretch he put together a five-fight winning streak with four straight first-round knockouts. He rose to No. 8 in the middleweight division during that impressive run. Brunson’s winning streak ended with back-to-back losses to Robert Whittaker and Anderson Silva. He followed that with a win over Dan Kelly. In October 2017, the UFC matched Brunson against former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida in the main event of UFC Fight Night 119.
At the time of the fight, Brunson was the No. 7 ranked fighter in the UFC’s 185-pound division. Machida, who was unranked at middleweight, was on a two-fight losing streak. The odds favored Brunson. He was a -155 favorite over the former champion, who was a +125 underdog.
Machida controlled the center of the octagon early, fighting in his familiar karate-based stance while Brunson used leg kicks from distance to set up his punches. Neither fighter was aggressive in the early minutes of the contest.
Halfway through the opening round, Machida closed the distance and Brunson stunned him with a left hook counter. The ex-champ retreated, but he left his defenses down and Brunson capitalized, finishing the fight with ground strikes at the 2:30 mark of the first stanza.
Brunson lost his next two fights. Ronaldo Souza and Israel Adesanya scored first-round TKO wins over him in 2018. Brunson had more success in 2019. He defeated Elias Theodorou and Ian Heinisch by decision last year.
Tonight, Brunson fights for the first time in 2020 when he faces Edmen Shahbazyan in the main event of UFC on ESPN+ 31.
Before that fight takes place, watch Brunson’s knockout win over Machida.
How to Watch or Live Stream UFC on ESPN+ 31:
UFC on ESPN+31 takes place tonight, August 1, at UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The main card streams on ESPN+ following prelims on ESPN+ and ESPN.
