A big middleweight fight is headed to Las Vegas.
UFC middleweight Derek Brunson wanted four fights in 2023, and he has his first one set.
Brett Okamoto of ESPN reported on Wednesday that Brunson and Dricus Du Plessis are joining the line-up of UFC 285, the upcoming pay-per-view scheduled for Sat., March 4, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. According to the report, Du Plessis also signed a new multi-fight deal with the promotion.
In his most recent Octagon appearance, Brunson saw a five-fight win streak snapped at UFC 271, where he suffered a second-round TKO loss to Jared Cannonier this past February. Following the Cannonier loss, the 38-year-old said he would retire after one more fight. He was paired against Jack Hermansson at UFC Orlando, but was forced to withdraw because of an undisclosed injury.
Du Plessis improved to 4-0 in the UFC with a third-round submission of Darren Till in their ‘Fight of the Night’ awarded outing at UFC 282. ’Stillknocks’ has finished all but one of his UFC opponents since signing with the promotion two years ago.
Brunson and Du Plessis are ranked No. 5 and No. 10, respectively.
UFC 285 now has eight confirmed fights. A headliner has yet to be announced. The current line-up is as follows:
- Jessica Penne vs. Tabatha Ricci
- Farid Basharat vs. Da’Mon Blackshear
- Amanda Ribas vs. Viviane Araújo
- Bo Nickal vs. Jamie Pickett
- Cody Garbrandt vs. Julio Arce
- Mario Bautista vs. Guido Cannetti
- Julian Marquez vs. Marc-André Barriault
- Derek Brunson vs. Dricus Du Plessis
Stay tuned to Bloody Elbow for more updates to the event as they become available in the coming months.