Derek
Brunson’s trip up to 205 pounds will be on hold for a few more
months.
On Thursday,
news broke that Brunson (23-9) had signed with Professional Fighters League. Per his manager,
Brunson would be competing this year, and that his destination was
ultimately the light heavyweight bracket of the 2024 tournament.
The organization released on Friday his first assignment, which
will be taking place at middleweight on Nov. 24. At the
PFL 2023 Championships event, he will battle it out with former
welterweight tourney victor Ray Cooper
III (25-8-1).
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The two will collide as the featured prelim in a “showcase” bout,
in what will be the second middleweight match since Louis
Taylor defeated Abusupiyan
Magomedov for the 185-pound throne in the 2018 Championships
event. Although Brunson’s manager stated that he would be moving to
light heavyweight, it is unclear at this time if the promotion will
be re-opening the weight class for a bracket in next year’s
tournament or if this is a one-off to benefit both combatants.
The 39-year-old last competed at UFC 285 in March, where his corner
intervened at the end of the second round after a Dricus Du Plessus
drubbing. That loss was his second in a row, as he previously met
Jared
Cannonier at UFC 271 in 2022 and was put away late into Round
2. Before the pair of setbacks, the top contender strung together
five straight victories, stopping Darren Till
and Edmen
Shahbazyan while notching decisions over Kevin
Holland, Ian
Heinisch and Elias
Theodorou.
Cooper will be appearing for the first time since July 2022 when he
moves up in weight. This will be his first outing at 185 pounds,
although the Hawaiian struggled multiple times in the last few
years to reach the 171-pound cap of his former weight class. Dating
back four years, Cooper has lost just once to Carlos
Leal Miranda, while going to a draw with Sadibou Sy
in 2019. Along the way, “Bradda Boy” won the 2019 and 2021
tourneys, knocking out David
Michaud and Magomed
Magomedkerimov, respectively, to pick up those million-dollar
checks.
The 2023 Season PFL Championships will be held at The Anthem in
Washington, D.C., on Nov. 24. Six championship affairs at light
heavyweight, featherweight, welterweight, women’s featherweight,
heavyweight and lightweight will go down throughout the night. The
billing also contains a non-title showdown between Kayla
Harrison and Julia Budd on
the main card, as well as an amateur outing for Biaggio
Ali Walsh.