HOUSTON – The re-invented Derek Brunson has his eyes set on a title shot should he take care of business at UFC 271, but doesn’t see himself hanging around too much longer afterward.
On Saturday’s pay-per-view main card, Brunson (23-7 MMA, 14-5 UFC) will meet Jared Cannonier in what is most likely a No. 1 contender fight in the middleweight division. The contest was originally scheduled to take place at UFC 270, but the fight was delayed a month.
“They wanted a backup for the title fight,” Brunson told MMA Junkie and other reporters at UFC 271 media day. “Normally I would care, but I got spend 10 more days at home with the family so I wasn’t arguing too much. I got to eat some macaroni and extra food around the holidays.
“Nobody has told me anything, but I figured I would have been first up. I was just focused on my fight at hand because I figured my fight would go through, both fights would go through, so that’s how I’ve been training.
While Brunson knows he’s in for a tough fight against a fighter in Cannonier (14-5 MMA, 7-5 UFC) who has also been in there against the best the division has to offer, he believes he will turn in a dominant performance on Saturday.
“I feel I match up really well,” Brunson said. “He has to come out and fight the perfect fight. He gotta have a little luck on his side and catch me, but skill for skill, it’s not even close.”
If Brunson is successful against Cannonier on Saturday, he will have extended his win streak to six-straight, a resume he believes is worthy of a title shot. Should Robert Whittaker emerge victorious over Israel Adesanya and re-claim the title in the main event, the expectation is that there would be an immediate rematch to settle the trilogy, which could delay Brunson’s timeline for his title shot. If so, Brunson has no issues sitting on the sidelines until everything plays out, because he feels he has done enough.
“I’m going to sit and wait for a title fight, for sure,” Brunson said. “I’ve done everything I need to do in this division and yeah, that’s that.”
As far as a preference on which fighter he would like to face, Brunson would be up for either man he has previously fought. Beyond that, however, it may be the last time we see Brunson complete.
“Honestly, I plan on fighting two more times,” Brunson said. “I feel like I’m lucky and blessed to fight in the UFC 20 times and I’m super smart. I’ve got a good brain on my head. So, I don’t want to fight until I can’t fight no more. …That’s all I’m thinking about right now. Beating Cannonier, beating Izzy, and riding out.”
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