Fans witnessed a huge upset in the main event of UFC Vegas 36 as Derek Brunson beat Darren Till via a rear-naked choke. Though Darren Till had his moments in the fight it won’t be wrong to say that Derek Brunson dominated Till with his wrestling.
Going into the fight it was expected that Darren Till will be able to stop the takedown attempts of Derek Brunson and do some serious damage on the feet. Till is undoubtedly a much superior striker compared to Brunson. And he has shown excellent takedown defense in the past.
However, Brunson’s wrestling was just too much for Darren Till at UFC Vegas 36. The fight started with Darren Till landing some good shots on the feet. But, Brunson’s game plan was fairly simple. And though at times Till presented a tougher challenge compared to Kevin Holland with his takedown defense, Brunson was able to secure the takedowns in every round.
It’s an impressive win from Derek Brunson who is now on a 5 fight winning streak at the age of 37. But, what’s more, impressive is beating a tough opponent in Darren Till with a bruised rib and a lot of adversities in his personal life.
Following the win, Brunson revealed that he injured his rib during training and could not even spar for the last few weeks of his training camp. Brunson also revealed that both his parents tested positive for COVID-19 during the beginning of his training camp for the Darren Till fight. Talking about his injury, Brunson stated:
“I couldn’t even breathe for a whole week. The last two weeks, I couldn’t even spar, I just hit pads for conditioning and stuff like that.”
What’s Next For Derek Brunson?
After an impressive win over Darren Till, Derek Brunson is likely to face Jared Cannonier next who beat Kelvin Gastelum in his last fight. Brunson, who has already fought the current middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, called out the champion following his win over Till.
And it’s an exciting rematch considering how much Brunson has improved in his last few fights. But, Adesanya will defend his title against Robert Whittaker next and this fight is likely to happen next year. So the fans expect to see Brunson one more time in the octagon to fight for the number one contender spot.