It is never easy to miss out on a title fight opportunity after getting real close to it. Derek Brunson was deeply saddened by not being able to headline the UFC 276 pay-per-view event following his loss to Jared Cannonier.
Derek Brunson was only a fight away from getting a shot at the middleweight belt. The fighter took on Jared Cannonier at UFC 271 and was dominating the fight until he got knocked out by the “Killer Gorilla” at the end of the second round. Up until that defeat, Brunson was on a five-fight winning streak and would have been guaranteed a title shot if he defeated Cannonier at the beginning of 2022.
Jared won the fight fair and square, getting him an opportunity to fight for the title at UFC 276, one of the biggest pay-per-view events of the year 2022. The fighter failed to dethrone Israel Adesanya in the main event. Derek recently spoke to The Schmo in an interview talking about how painful it was to watch Jared fight for the title instead of him. Not only did Derek have the chance to fight for the title but also get his revenge against Adesanya for their fight in 2018.
Derek Brunson was overwhelmed by fan messages leading up to UFC 276
“Man, that was a little upsetting to watch, you know. I felt like I should have been fighting in the fight,” said Brunson in the interview. Despite being disappointed, Brunson was very active on social media giving his reactions to the fight. Many fans also believed the fight would have been more exciting if Brunson had fought mainly due to the different styles of fighting Izzy and Derek portray.
“The fans all fight week long were saying, ‘Hey man, I’m so bummed you weren’t there. You were winning the fight, we’d rather you be here.’ This is not a knock on Cannonier, he earned it. Blonde Brunson should’ve been there. I almost came to tears but Blonde Brunson can’t cry in public,” said Derek while talking to The Schmo in the latest interview.
Derek is currently the #4 middleweight and has no fight booked currently. He was called out by former title contender Paulo Costa, but Brunson turned the fight down asking for more time to recover.
