Derek Brunson fields questions from ESPN’s Marc Raimondi to discuss leaving the UFC for the PFL, the possibility of fighting Jake …
Mark Ray Mundy for ESPN joined today by the newest edition of pfl look he’s even wearing the pfl shirt Derek Brunson longtime former UFC middleweight Contender Derek I mean I guess the first question is that everyone wants to know is why did you leave the UFC you know you’re going to pfl you’re fighting November 24th against Ray Cooper but you were scheduled to fight in the UFC also in November what happened it just it just didn’t work out you know um I don’t know um pfl is just a great opportunity for me it’s new challenge new Venture I’m motivated I would say with the UFC you know just being on these big streaks and you know not getting my title shot which I felt I deserve you know I was on two five fight winning streaks and I never got the title shot um even back in the days I had guys who were Champions that wouldn’t accept their fight against me so it kind of left me in no man’s land to fight like a title Eliminator but um yeah man just just new motivation new Venture for me so did you Quest your release yes okay okay and they and they said okay they granted you the release pretty much okay okay and and now why pfl what what attracted you to pfl it’s uh I like the format you know they have a million dollar tournament um the guys stay pretty active um I don’t have to lobby for a title shot you know I go out here and fight and get my hand raised I’m moving on to the next one you know so yeah I like that format a lot and like I said it’s it’s no bitter will or any animosity towards UFC I had a great time there but you know I’m super motivated with the new new um task at hand you’re supposed to fight Roman deled right in in at MSG is that correct yes gota Goa and then I mean I guess I’m I’m just asking because there was kind of like a just a curiosity about like the timing like you know you were you were booked to fight it was reported you were fighting and then all of a sudden you weren’t in the UFC anymore a little different than what normally happens yeah um again man I was up for the challenge I I would love to have fight Roman you know it’s just uh I think as long as I’ve been in the UFC you know the motivation have to be there you know um I think for me at my current Point even even these title eliminators man I felt pretty flat going into these fights like oh here we go again gotta fight another title title Eliminator instead of getting my deserved title shot you know look at look at uh Izzy and perara Perera whenever they fought who won the fight perara won okay so therefore perara be Izzy there’s no time there’s no need to have a rematch right so that’s what a lot of MMA fans will say oh you lost to Izzy already but it happens all the time guys will lose to a guy they rematch him and beat him you know um that’s a new motivation man it gets you up you know and if these opportunities aren’t being available you know it’s very tough man I think in some of these fights that was super super tight you know just I don’t know like I would get in the camp and just really wouldn’t feel it you know like I said I’m really enjoying and really likeing this uh tournament format where I get to dictate my own fate how was the uh how was the contract with pfl pretty happy with uh what they’re giving you oh yeah yeah yeah it’s definitely a upgrade uh I got a job promotion you know at age 39 I’m still getting promotion so that’s always a good thing you’re fighting Ray Hooper on November 24th that’s a big card that’s the pfl Championship card right with all the the title fights on it Cooper is a really legitimate guy you know I I was there when he knocked out Chris Curtis who you know is a pretty good UFC middleweight right now what are you looking at going into this one uh those are two two short guys you know I’m I’m a big 85 you know so a little bit different from uh Chris Curtis you know he like to stay standing there and trade um but yeah no take Ray coer is definitely a tough um individual but but I like my attributes I like myself against anybody I mean you know what what MMA fans cannot say that can’t short come me of pener I mean um that first round could have been a 108 uh drias that fight you know definitely won the first round 10 nine like I lost these second rounds more on my own demise like I I haven’t been doing road work for the last five or six years and now granted the doctor was like oh okay your knees a little bit injured banged up maybe you should run you can do strength and conditioning circuits but I would say to be fighting at the top level against these high-profile guys high-profile fights where guys are gonna fight to death pretty much because they know what’s at stake is that you gotta be doing road work you know so now I’m adding that to my arsal you know I’ve been running for about six weeks and now keeping that pace getting tired in second rounds it’s not going to be a thing that’s a thing of a pass you know so like if you add that into my previous fights I win those fights nine out of 10 times both of those fights you know I was dominating in in the skills you know I just faded in the second round and it cost me in both of those fights but um there’s no question whether I was dominating those fights or not so is is your knee all healed now uh yeah well so my knee wasn’t like anything crazy just from all the years of wrestling you know doctors like oh well you maybe you should just do bike or like strength the condition should be enough you know but again you can see it in the late rounds it’s funny I had a teammate who fought recently in the UFC and I was watching that fight and I’m like this guy don’t run you know and I and I messaged him instant I’m like you don’t run you know and I haven’t heard that from him yet you know he just had a fight so um but you can see it you can see when guys just lose their Pace when they start to slow down a little bit and it’s not because they’re not working hard because they’re not in shape it’s because you need that pace from the road work and I’m like damn I’m just figuring this out 13 years 14 years into my career you know know when uh when you first moved over actually when when you first became a free agent from the UFC few weeks ago I guess back in uh in September talking with your your manager Ali abdell aiz and he mentioned that maybe 205 for you in the future maybe light heavyweight is that something that you’re considering for maybe next year or Beyond yeah for sure you know I think after this fight we’re gonna go 205 you know get to feel good you know it’s a lot of things in this game man MMA is one of the hardest Sports in World being that everything must be on point that night when you fight because at the end of the day it’s a full out fight like these other sports you can take a playoff you know you can go out and somebody can relieve you you see guys in football games all the time the wide receiver put his hand up like I’m tired I just ran along 50 yards caught the bar they going on the sidelines getting some water chilling out for a little bit it ain’t that M it’s like one second can be the end of the fight you know you seen it over time like guys be winning the whole fight and get clipped you know so yeah man um conditioning I think uh moving up a weight class not having to cut all that weight be a great thing also so you think you’ll be in the the pfl 205 season next year the light heavyweight season I think I think so at this point gotcha gotcha um you you follow the sport pretty closely I’m sure you’ve heard the rumors Bellator the future is kind of Uncertain for them pfl is the reported front runner to buy Bellator that could happen pretty soon and I’m just wondering you know they have some good fighters on that roster as well so would you be into fighting maybe the Johnny eands of the world the the BAM them cops of the world if you’re at 205 in the future oh yeah absolutely yeah they have some some good Fighters man that’s the thing man even when I was with the UFC I never was like dismissive of other Fighters and other organizations I’m like oh they got some good fight them guys are pretty good you know so like yeah man I welcome all challenges you know it’s good to be you know in the UFC for all these years and now like I’m in a different promotion and I get to see everything full circle and like look at all the fighters and like okay oh this is this is the matchup what about this matchup stuff like that was about a year I want to say it was a year ago maybe even earlier this year where you and Jake Paul kind of got into it a little bit on social media and at the time you know the idea of Jake Paul versus Derrick Brunson didn’t seem very realistic right because you were under UFC contract now you’re in pfl he is in pfl h how can we make this fight happen it’s a possibility it’s a it’s a possibility now you know Jake was calling my name out when it wasn’t a possibility because he knew D white wasn’t gonna oblig but now I came over I came to his backyard and um trying to see if he still got that same energy towards Mr Brunson have you had any discussions with pfl Executives about this idea because he he has said and pfl has said that Jay Paul will fight an MMA in 2024 not yet not yet um our first task at hand is Ray Cooper and then after that we gonna see what what shakes out what what pans out what did you think of his fight against Nate Diaz I thought it was interesting it was fun you know it was it was a Nate Diaz type fight he come out there and bring the fight and make it interesting do you think should fight in uh an MMA now uh do I think they should fight in MMA no I think uh me and Jak Paul make a better fight you know um yeah that’s what I think so yeah we’ll see you don’t you don’t think well I’m sure and obviously you want that fight and and respect for you for that but you don’t think Jake Paul would beat Nate Diaz in MMA do you do I think Jake Paul beat n Diaz in MMA probably not I think he think I’m not certain I think he has I think he has an outside chance like think he has an outside chance you know whereas I guess in boxing how how did you have it before the boxing match what you thought like percentage wise what what chance you give either or I mean I thought I thought Jake had the advantage physically he he was definitely bigger guy I mean I I was there during fight week in Dallas and and you could see just how much of a bigger guy Jake was not not just in terms of height but also just size right chest and shoulder width and that kind of thing um so I thought he had a little bit of an advantage like from an attribute standpoint and then I mean I didn’t know that Nate Diaz had an injury going to the fight he was having trouble with his arm so he couldn’t really jab I didn’t I was not aware of that but I did feel like at least from from a physical perspective and and also just the boxing experience perspective even though Nate has been boxing in training forever it isn’t the same thing as getting in there you know Jake boxed Tyron Woodley twice Anderson Silva um so I gave him I gave him a little bit of an edge in the in the boxing match MMA though I mean you got to think Nate wins that fight right I mean that’s that’s just me well what what would you put him percentage wise before the before the boxing match like you Jake yeah yeah what would you say Jake was gonna win this what like 55 45 60 40 something so you thought it was close so I thought it was gonna be close I mean because Nate’s Nate’s a dog you know like yeah I get it what do you give him to MMA oh I think I think Nate wins that like 8020 right okay so so I had I had the boxing match I had probably Jake Paul I thought he probably about 75% and in MMA I give him I give I give him a 45% chance okay 40 maybe I give him 40 60 40 60 Nate 40 40 Jake it would be interesting it would be it would be interesting to see someone come over and do MMA right from the boxing side that would be that would be interesting to see we don’t see that as much as we see the other way yeah for sure we we definitely need to you know I mean somebody got to lay it on the line put it out there you know James Tony can’t be the only one who get this work that’s right that’s right good shout James Tony back in Boston 2010 I guess Randy cotor H couple things uh last for Derek H your your your UFC division was middleweight and there was a pretty big upset in that division title fight Strickland beat ad ofia last month thoughts on that surprise to you what did you think uh I wasn’t to surprise you know um I don’t know Izzy looked a little just listen listen to some his post fight he said I’m just gonna fight for fun like a little uh wore out you know like he’s tired of doing all the media rather just fight these basic fights probably got enough money from the previous fights uh for for him you know he’s pretty content I guess um yeah he just he didn’t show up he didn’t he didn’t go for it he didn’t really you know put up much of a fight you know um typically the iy that we used to see in where he’s gonna stand in that p pocket and be like hey is either me or you he was just like it’s you tonight you know he really wasn’t putting up a a big effort and taking nothing away from Sean I mean but again I would go back and say too is like man when you get opportunity you’re gonna train hard you’re gonna work your ass off you know opportunity and you’re kind of stale out there Sean Strickland was three and two in his last five fights and he’s the champion you know what I mean so like when he got that call he’s like hell yeah let’s do it you know I mean that’s a new motivation you think he’s he’s probably exra running those extra Sprints probably running that extra two miles you know it’s just everybody wants that opportunity and like I said kudos to him but you know if you never if you never get that opportunity it’s kind of tough to get up for these occasions or you know these little semi occasions okay last thing there is another big middleweight fight coming up in the UFC got to ask you about this one because it’s in the news a lot paoc Costa apparently had surgery just three weeks ago on some staff infection on his arm he’s fighting Hamza jayv in Abu Dhabi UFC 294 your thoughts on that one I mean why do why do we even have to see that are we are we are we giving out built-in excuses are you saying hey Target my arm or I couldn’t defend it take down because my arm was in flamed like or I’m gonna put like I don’t know like listen if if I made an excuse for every time that uh try to build an excuse before I fought you know I’ll be undefeated right now you know but uh yeah I don’t know um it’s just a little bump on his arm we’ll get over it let’s see let’s see the fight let’s see how it goes so you’re calling a little bit of of vs on that on that arm thing yeah sound like a built-in excuse to me fair enough Derek thank you so much it’s always good talking to you blond Brunson Ray Cooper November 24th pfl Championship Washington DC that’s going to be a really good card excited to see you happy uh you know in pfl should be a new it be fun to see you also next year in the two5 division Derek appreciate it man thank you all right sounds good thank [Applause] [Music] you