Derek Brunson vs. Israel Adesanya in a middleweight bout has been confirmed for the upcoming UFC 230 pay-per-view event.
Adesanya (14-0) signed with the UFC this year and is 3-0 in the Octagon where he has made his name known as a rising prospect in the division. He is coming off a decision win against Brad Tavares on July 6 in Las Vegas.
Brunson (18-6) has his sights set on the UFC middleweight strap as he has already verbally accepted the date for this fight to happen as he is coming off a loss to Ronaldo Souza in January that snapped a two-fight winning streak when he picked up wins over Dan Kelley and Lyoto Machida.
Adesanya went on record by stating in a recent interview that he already looks at Brunson as another notch on his win column. He also stated despite the fact that Brunson tried to a pick fight with Adesanya via Twitter before the fight was announced, he believes the promotion told him to call for the showdown.
“I think the guy is already scared, man,” Adesanya told Luke Thomas on the latest episode of The MMA Hour. “He didn’t call me out, the UFC made him call me out. He wouldn’t even dare say my name. I feel like if he turned down a fight with me it would make him look bad. They forced him to take that fight because he wouldn’t dare call me out by himself. He was trying to make it out like, ‘Sign the contract’, but I was like, ‘Bro, I signed the contract two days ago, what are you on about?’ This ain’t the WWE and I keep up that image, but I think he’s in over his head on this one. He’s never been in a fight like this. I know he’s fought Anderson Silva, but he hasn’t been in a fight with anyone like me, so I think it’s a new territory for him.”
“Him falling into a takedown, that’s about it. Bum rushing and falling into a takedown. You’ve seen my last fight and my first fight in the UFC. You’ve seen my last fight, how many times did that guy try to take me down? They weren’t bad grapplers,” he said.
“Brunson, I don’t know what his credentials are as a wrestler or whether he’s an All-American division one or whatever, but regardless, my takedown defense is not something he wants to mess with. I don’t see anything else that he brings to the table.
The UFC 230 pay-per-view event is set to take place on Saturday, November 3, 2018 at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan, New York City. The main card will air on pay-per-view at 10 p.m. ET while the preliminary card will air on FOX Sports 1 at 8 p.m. ET and the promotion’s streaming service, UFC Fight Pass.
