Derek Brunson had a very specific plan in mind when he was offered a fight with Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza for the main event at UFC on FOX 27 in Charlotte, NC, this Saturday night.

Following two knockout wins in a row, including a victory over former champion Lyoto Machida in October, Brunson felt like an impressive finish against Souza should put him into position to challenge for the UFC middleweight title later this year.

After Georges St-Pierre won and surrendered the 185-pound belt in a month's time, Robert Whittaker was promoted from interim to undisputed champion before being set up for a title defense against Luke Rockhold at UFC 221, which takes place just a few weeks after Brunson's bout against Souza.

Sadly, Whittaker suffered an injury that forced him off the card, and now Yoel Romero will face Rockhold to crown a new interim champion. The eventual winner of that interim belt will then move on to face Whittaker later this year.

In other words, it's a big mess.

"Trust me it's the wild, wild West," Brunson told FloCombat recently. "When I saw this, I was like, for sure this would happen. 'Cause if you look at it like this, Jacare is No. 3, Romero was No. 2, and Rockhold was No. 1, and with Georges [St-Pierre] leaving, you had (Robert) Whittaker as champion. So the champion and No. 1 were fighting each other, I go out here and I destroy Jacare in the first round, I would be next for the title shot. Now with Whittaker out and Romero stepping in, that wouldn't necessarily make me next.

"I might have to fight another one because Whittaker being the champ would be the next to get the winner of [Rockhold vs. Whittaker]. It's like, what the hell, here we go again. It's always something."





As much as it disappointed Brunson to find out Whittaker was going to be sidelined for an undetermined amount of time, he refused to let that shake him of the goal he set for himself with the fight against Jacare.

Not only will this be a chance to avenge an earlier loss in his career when he faced Souza in Strikeforce back in 2012, but it's also an opportunity for Brunson to solidify his standing in the division.

A dominant win could put Brunson in the path of a title shot, and even if that means waiting on the sidelines for several months, he's willing to sit for the sake of finally competing for a UFC championship.

"My plan is to go out here and finish the guy," Brunson said. "The No. 3 guy, if I finish this guy in the first round or finish him in impressive fashion, I'll be OK to wait for my title shot. Because Jacare was looking invincible and thought he was going to get a title shot until he got impatient and he ended up fighting Romero and losing a very close fight.

"It was a split decision I believe. Whittaker looked good against him, but people look at him as one of the best fighters on the planet. So I'm putting the work in and I'm gonna show it in my performance."

Brunson has come close to title contention before when he was riding a five-fight win streak before losing to Whittaker in an absolute one-round slugfest back in 2016.

Since that time, Brunson has fixed some errors in his game that were exposed in that fight, and he's come back an even better version of himself in 2018.





Now, Brunson believes it's his time to make that run at the title. So after he's done with Jacare, his sights are set on finally competing for a UFC title.

"I go out here and smash this guy like I plan on doing, I feel I definitely should be rewarded," Brunson said. "I fought a murderer's row. If you look at the guys I fought, most people would have an even record. I fought everybody — whenever — I knock out guys who haven't been knocked out before. I finish guys who haven't been finished before.

"I'm putting in the work and I think it's about time to reap some of the benefits."

By Damon Martin