Antonio Carlos Junior was surprised that Derek Brunson accepted his call-out.
Junior expressed interest in a bout with Brunson after he submitted Eric Spicely at UFC 212. Brunson accepted the challenge after his UFC Fight Night 110 knockout win over Daniel Kelly.
Speaking with MMAFighting.com, Junior said he believes Brunson wants easier fights:
“I think that him accepting this fight shows that he’s looking for easier fights. And when a fighter looks for that, he doesn’t have the right spirit and ends up making mistakes and giving openings for his opponent to win, and I’ll be the opponent.”
Junior feels he’s a tough out for Brunson and doesn’t think the fellow middleweight takes him seriously.
“I think he is (underestimating me) because I’m not in the ranking and because people think I’m one-dimensional because they know me more for my jiu-jitsu. He’s tough and I’m ready and mature enough to fight anyone in the division. If I’m in my best day, I can fight anyone.”
