LAS VEGAS – Derek Brunson hopes he can earn a title shot to close out his career.
Brunson (23-8 MMA, 14-6 UFC) meets Dricus Du Plessis (18-2 MMA, 4-0 UFC) on Saturday’s UFC 285 prelims at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on ESPN+.
Du Plessis marks yet another lower-ranked fighter whom Brunson has been matched up against. But as long as he continues knocking off contenders, Brunson thinks he can’t be denied his first shot at gold.
“I just need to win,” Brunson told reporters at the UFC 285 media day on Wednesday. “If I’m ultimately going to get that Michael Bisping title shot, I’ve just got to go out here keep winning, holding my spot and be ready.”
Du Plessis is unbeaten in the UFC and all but one of his professional wins have come by finish. But having fought the likes of ex-champions Israel Adesanya, Robert Whittaker and Anderson Silva, Brunson says he’s seen it all at this point.
“He doesn’t really do anything that I haven’t seen before,” Brunson said. “He’s a tough guy, a lot of forward action, comes to fight.
“A fight is a fight. I would say this is going to be his hardest test. When you’re in high school, you take all of these tests, then you got the finals. So this is the finals for him to see exactly where he’s at.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 285.
