“BKFC has signed former UFC middleweight contender Derek Brunson,” Nolan King wrote on X, and the promotion confirmed the rest soon after. Brunson will make his bare-knuckle debut in Myrtle Beach on November 20, according to BKFC’s announcement as reported by MiddleEasy. No opponent has been announced.
That’s a big swing for a fighter whose entire game was built on a wrestling mat. Brunson came out of Wilmington, North Carolina, and went on to become a three-time NCAA Division II All-American at UNC Pembroke. He worked as a therapist before fighting. Then he started his pro career like a man in a hurry. He debuted in May 2010 with a rear-naked choke in under a minute, and his next five fights all ended before the 2:30 mark of the first round.
Strikeforce came next. He won three straight there, including a first-round submission of Lumumba Sayers on the Fedor vs. Henderson undercard, before Ronaldo Souza knocked him out 41 seconds into their August 2012 fight. He bounced back four months later in the UFC, stepping in on short notice as a heavy underdog against Chris Leben at UFC 155 and wrestling his way to a unanimous decision.
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That win kicked off a 21-fight UFC run at middleweight that lasted from 2012 to 2023. Since then he’s been competing at light heavyweight in the PFL.
Why the move is a gamble
Bare-knuckle takes away the thing Brunson did best. There are no takedowns, no clinch-and-grind, no top control to bank a round. He’ll have to stand in a small ring and trade with people who’ve made a career out of exactly that. He also turns 43 in January, so this is a late-career pivot. The early knockout streak gives some reason for optimism, and plenty of old wrestlers have heavy hands. Bare knuckles will also punish any defensive lapse a glove used to soften.
The signing got plenty of reaction. MMA Sucka put together a roundup of fans responding to the deal, the date and the venue.
Now BKFC has to find him an opponent. The pick will show whether the promotion wants to ease a big-name newcomer in or throw him straight into a firefight. With November 20 about a month out, that name should come soon.
