Derek Brunson (14-3) has now won four straight fights in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight division, and you can add a third-straight first round finish to his resume.
Brunson defeated Roan Carneiro (20-10) by technical knockout at UFC Fight Night 83 earlier tonight (Sun. February 21, 2016) inside CONSOL Energy Arena in Pittsburgh, Pa.
The official time of the stoppage came at 2:38 of the first round.
The two ranked UFC middleweights shared a few good exchanges to being the opening round and Carneiro over extended on a right hand and slipped to the canvas when Brunson ducked underneath it.
From there, Brunson swarmed him on the ground smelling blood and rained down punch after punch looking for the finish. Carneiro held on as long as he could and referee Keith Peterson was quite lenient, but Brunson eventually landed two significant punches that put Carneiro out for good.
A big win for Brunson, who has now won four straight to improve his UFC record to 6-1. Brunson was ranked No.13 heading into this fight and with the finish, he could jump up in the rankings.
Carneiro, who won the Battlegrounds eight-man tournament back in October of 2015, falls to 1-1 in UFC competition.
For complete UFC Fight Night 83 “Cerrone vs. Oliveira” results, including play-by-play updates, click here.