An intriguing middleweight clash is on tap this Saturday, as Derek Brunson faces off with Darren Till in the main event of a UFC Fight Night offering. Check out our preview of each fighter along with our prediction for the fight below.
Brunson will arrive in this fight on the heels of a four-fight win streak. During that stretch, he scored three unanimous decision victories, and a TKO win. In his last fight, Brunson outlasted Kevin Holland via unanimous decisions in a five-rounder. Brunson has never fought in a title fight in the UFC, but he’s getting there. If he could score a win over Till this Saturday, he can expect to get a serious look from the UFC as the next potential challenger for whoever wins the potential fight between Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker. The 37-year-old Brunson has 11 knockout wins and three submission victories. He can put anyone to sleep with his power but he can also be a bit careless at times, a habit that has caused him to get knocked out numerous times in the past. Brunson seems to be the better fighter on the ground than Till, as he’s got a 3.11 takedown average per 15 minutes to just 0.54 by his English opponent.
Till has been out of action for quite some time now. He was supposed to fight Marvin Vettori earlier this year but had to call that bout off because of injury. Till stepped inside the Octagon in July 2020 which was when he lost to Whittaker via unanimous decision. He is just 2-3 in his last five fights, but he started his MMA career going unbeaten in 18-straight bouts. His only losses were against Tyron Woodley in a title fight in 2018, versus Jorge Masvidal in 2019, and to the aforementioned Whittaker. Most of Till’s wins have come through knockouts (10-1) and he could add another to that record on Saturday. As mentioned earlier, Brunson has the tendency to forget about his defense when launching attacks himself, leaving him open for counter-strikes. Till will also have to watch out for Brunson’s wrestling, though he seems to be great in avoiding takedowns. He owns an 82% takedown defense, so far in his UFC career.
