Longtime Ultimate Fighting Championship contender
Derek
Brunson hopes to continue the trend of UFC castouts winning the
million-dollar check in his new division.
On Thursday, The
Schmo released an interview conducted with Dominance MMA head
Ali Abdelaziz, who explained that Brunson (23-9) is moving onto
greener pastures. The former Strikeforce vet was initially slated to meet Roman
Dolidze in November, but instead, Brunson was released from the
organization altogether. Per the manager, the parting between the
UFC and Brunson was “mutual” and both “very smooth” and “very
respectful.” Brunson has now signed with Professional Fighters League.
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“Derek
Brunson, he signed with PFL,” Abdelaziz stated. “He’s a PFL
fighter. He’s going to fight before the end of the year. He did a
lot for the UFC, the UFC did a lot for him, he [had] a great
career…and now, he’s looking to make his run at [the] light
heavyweight title for PFL.”
When Brunson competes again, he will be looking to snap a two-fight
skid that dates back to 2022. The middleweight title hopeful had
strung together five straight wins, including a knockout of
Edmen
Shahbazyan and a tapout of Darren Till,
only to get finished by Jared
Cannonier and Dricus Du
Plessis late into the second round of their bouts. Over the
years, the Kill Cliff FC fighter has beaten the likes of Lyoto
Machida, Chris Leben,
Uriah
Hall and Lorenz
Larkin, to name but a few of his many conquests.
“But I think Derek
Brunson’s time there [at the UFC] is done, and he has to move
up to light heavyweight, and probably can win a million dollars in
this tournament,” the former World Series of Fighting matchmaker
concluded.
Brunson will be joining the light heavyweight division of PFL, as
the organization has not maintained a middleweight category since
Louis
Taylor prevailed in 2018. Of the four years of light
heavyweight tourneys, UFC alums have won three thus far, with
Sean
O’Connell, Antonio
Carlos Jr. and Rob
Wilkinson all claiming the top prize at season’s end. If
Impa
Kasanganay defeats Joshua
Silveira in November, four of five UFC veterans will have run
the table. Brunson will be aiming to make that five out of six when
he enters the 205-pound bracket in 2024.
The PFL has currently set its lineup for the
2023 Season PFL Championships event on Nov. 24 with 11 bouts on
the card. This includes the six title fights at light heavyweight,
featherweight, welterweight, women’s featherweight, heavyweight and
lightweight. The billing also contains a non-title tilt between
Kayla
Harrison and Julia Budd on
the main card, as well as an amateur appearance for Biaggio
Ali Walsh, plus three non-tourney prelim affairs.