Is Derek Brunson the new Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza?
I am sure that’s a strange question for those unfamiliar with the Ultimate Fighting Championship exploits of the newly retired Souza. However, for the 16-fight Octagon veteran known as “Jacare,” the Brazilian was long considered the best middleweight fighter in the promotion to never get a championship opportunity. Let alone actually win the prized 185-pound title.
With Souza retired, this respected yet undesirable mantel must be passed on to another middleweight who has remained a top-level talent, while also somehow remaining just outside the title picture. And no fighter on the roster better embodies the tough luck starpower than Derek Brunson. Let’s talk about why.
The unappreciated achievements of Derek Brunson
First and foremost, it needs to be said that Brunson really is one of the most underrated fighters not just at 185-pounds, but on the entire UFC roster. After a solid run in Strikeforce where he became a standout up-and-coming talent, the 37-year-old was a part of the influx of fighters from the San Jose-based outfit after the UFC chose to shutter the promotion following its purchase in 2011.
Over an 18-fight career — two more than Souza — Brunson steadily climbed the division ladder and has become a stalwart of the top-15 rankings for the last few years. His current spot as the fifth-ranked competitor in the weight class has come from winning 13 of his 18 bouts in the Octagon. That’s a pretty impressive number that I am sure some of you reading this didn’t even realize.
Those 13 wins also did not come against easy competition either, nor were they all victories that Brunson grinded out over three or more rounds. During his time in the UFC, the North Carolina native has scored eight finishes and added the talented pelts of Chris Leben, Sam Alvey, Uriah Hall, Edmen Shahbazyan, Kevin Holland, and former light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida to his wall of wins.
Those noteworthy wins led to big opportunities for him to push his name into the upper stratosphere at middleweight. However, therein lies the rub, and invisible glass ceiling Brunson has often collided with when trying to reach the next level of the division.
The elite guardians that kept Brunson outside contention
As outstanding as Brunson’s UFC middleweight run has been, it has certainly been filled with monumental setbacks. In many key moments during his Octagon journey, when he had the chance to break through to the upper echelon of the division, Brunson has fallen short. However, when he came up short, it wasn’t to fighters he was a major favorite over. Instead, it was to some of the very best middleweights of the last decade.
Brunson has had five losses during his stint in the UFC, and those losses came to three former division champions — two of them viewed as the greatest middleweights of all-time — a former two-time title contender, and a perennial contender. There is really no shame when a fighter says that their Octagon losses came to the likes of Yoel Romero, Robert Whittaker, Israel Adesanya, the aforementioned Souza, and Anderson Silva.
Furthermore, in the minds of many, his 2017 loss to the Brazilian middleweight icon Silva is viewed as a fight where he was on the wrong end of some very poor MMA judging.
Throughout his UFC run, it has taken the top 1% of the weight class to beat Brunson. Yet, that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been an integral part of his own downfall in those matchups. Which begs the question: Is he Souza’s heir apparent, or can he break through the elite ceiling he has hit time and again.
Can Brunson succeed where Souza failed?
Outside of being labeled by some as a fighter who can’t win the big one, Brunson has often made some very poor strategic decisions during key moments in important fights. In his 2016 bout with Whittaker, he put his NCAA All-American wrestling in his pocket and chose to strike with one of the best in the division. And he did it in a face-first way that was high-risk and low-reward. To which his Aussie foe cashed in on and handed Brunson a technical knockout loss in the first round.
Brunson has always had all the tools to be an elite fighter. He has effective wrestling, dangerous power in his hands, and has proven a durable competitor. However, blending those gifts with sound in-fight tactics has often been an Achilles heel. That is until recently.
Over his current four-fight win streak — especially in his victories over Shahbazyan and Holland — Brunson has played to his opponent’s specific weaknesses and more to his own strengths. On Saturday afternoon at UFC Vegas 36, he will once again need to be strategically smart when he faces a gifted striker in Darren Till.
Although Till is not an elite middleweight yet, his name value and high-level skillset make this another one of those pivotal moments for Brunson as he heads into a third straight main event spot. How he handles it could be the decider between if his the next “Jacare” Souza, or an elite talent that just needed more time to finally rise to the top.
UFC Vegas 36 takes place on September 4 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event begins at 1:30 pm ET with preliminary action and is then followed by the main card at 4 pm ET. The entire event will air exclusively on streaming service ESPN+
