Derek Brunson thinks he will be fighting Israel Adesanya for the belt early next fight.
Adesanya is expected to rematch Robert Whittaker in January next year in a highly-anticipated fight. However, nothing has been made official and for Brunson, he thinks the challenger won’t make it to the fight for some reason. With that, Brunson says he will be staying ready to step in.
“I don’t know. We’ll see, man. For some weird reason, I feel like Whittaker doesn’t make it to the fight,” Brunson said to The Schmo. “Like, I’m not wishing any bad will on him, but I just feel like, man, it’s gonna be my opportunity to step in for that title shot.”
Although many think Brunson will need to take another fight against Jared Cannonier if Whittaker does have to pull out, Brunson would likely be the guy to step in on short notice. He has made it known he deserves a title shot and that’s all he wants for his next fight.
“I’m tired of these guys not mentioning my name,” Brunson shouted after submitting Darren Till. “You know [Israel Adesanya], look at the camera, mention my name. I heard you mentioning Till and [Jared] Cannonier. Cause I’ve been busting my butt, four years after my loss to get back to this point. I’m ready to contend.”
Derek Brunson is currently on a five-fight winning streak and coming off a submission win over Darren Till. Prior to that, he earned a dominant decision victory over Kevin Holland after a TKO win over Edmen Shahbazyan. He also beat Ian Heinisch and Elias Theodorou during this five-fight winning streak. His last loss was a first-round TKO loss to Israel Adesanya at UFC 230 so the storyline is there for a rematch to be made if Whittaker can’t make it to the fight.
Brunson is scheduled to face Jared Cannonier at UFC 270 in January.
Do you think we will see Israel Adesanya vs. Derek Brunson 2 next?
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