Israel Adesanya is still firing shots at Derek Brunson.
If there was one fight that really began to put the UFC on notice that Israel Adesanya was a star in the making, it may very well have been his UFC 230 victory over Derek Brunson. Not only was it a near-flawless performance over a top-10 opponent, but there was also a lot of buzz surrounding the fight due to the heated buildup, which was riddled with trash talk.
One of the biggest remnants from this buildup is the nickname of “Derek Bumson” that Adesanya bestowed upon his then-opponent. Adesanya had no regard for Brunson’s striking or overall skill set for that matter, and he continued to double-down on that low opinion of the UFC veteran after defeating him.
Three years have passed and much has changed since UFC 230. For one thing, Israel Adesanya is now the middleweight champion and a full-fledged star in the UFC. As for Brunson, he did not fade away into gatekeeper status. Instead, he has won every single bout since that night, five straight to be exact.
After Brunson’s latest win, which occurred last night at UFC Vegas 36 over Derek Brunson, the North Carolinian had some strong words for his past nemesis.
“Israel Adesanya, boy, I ain’t workin’ all this time for nothin’, boy! You next, boy! You next!” a very fired-up Derek Brunson yelled directly into the camera.
Adesanya posted the video of this moment along with his own captions.
“Calm down…boy. You still a bum…son,” Adesanya wrote.
Adesanya would then proceed to celebrate “Father’s Day” in regards to his alleged “son.”
And of course, Adesanya would be remiss if he did not include a clip of his fight against Brunson back from UFC 230.
Israel Adesanya is all but guaranteed to be defending his middleweight title against Robert Whittaker next. Derek Brunson is well aware of this, but he stated after his UFC Vegas 36 victory over Darren Till that he has every intention of waiting to face the winner of that fight.
Do you think a rematch between Israel Adesanya and Derek Brunson would go any differently than their first encounter?
