Middleweight Derek Brunson hasn’t focused on Kevin Holland’s win streak, or impressive 2020, ahead of their main event scrap this Saturday at UFC Vegas 22.
“I’m ranked number seven, he’s ranked number ten. He’s trying to take my spot, so it’s just business for me,” Brunson said during Thursday’s virtual media day to promote the event, speaking to media outlets including Cageside Press.
Brunson believes that with an impressive win against Holland on Saturday, he can “leap-frog” a lot of the other fighters at 185bs and get into the title picture. To do so, he’ll need to get past the notorious trash talking of Holland. His opponent went so far as to hit up his DMs ahead of the fight, which Brunson recognizes as mental warfare.
“He tried to get into my head. Kevin Holland’s just a class clown. I let him do his thing,” Brunson stated. “He’s a class clown, he’s trying to be funny, but it doesn’t matter. You can talk, you can not talk, you can be silent, you can be outspoken, but I’m coming to knock people out. I’m coming to get finishes. That’s not going to change. I’m going to get wins, I’m focused on the task at hand, and that’s that.”
Brunson recently made the move to Florida to join Sanford MMA, a move that’s more about “being pushed, having the bodies, people training full time at the highest level to push you,” he stated. The middleweight quoted Georges St-Pierre in saying that “once you become really famous, make a lot of millions, it’s easy to lose your edge.” The only way to get that edge back is to “get challenged. And you have to step away from your team and get challenged by guys who are not trying to baby you or take care of you. Guys that are coming to get you, that are going to push you in training and stuff like that.”
Watch the full UFC Vegas 22 virtual media day scrum with Derek Brunson above. The event takes place Saturday, March 20 with the main card live on ESPN (TSN in Canada).
