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UFC middleweight contender Derek Brunson is riding a three-fight win streak, and the 37-year-old MMA star revealed to Heavy that the secret to his success was knowing the value of sacrifice. Brunson owns and operates his own MMA gym in Wilmington, North Carolina, but the fighter started doing his training camps at Samford MMA in Florida after suffering back-to-back losses in 2018.
“It just got to a point where I was at home coaching myself in a real comfortable situation being around family and friends, and that’s great, that’s actually life. But in life, we have to make sacrifices if we want to achieve great things, so that’s why I had to mix it up and go back to Florida and Samford MMA,” Burnson said.
Brunson’s three wins in a row over Elias Theodorou, Ian Heinsch and Edmen Shahbazyan have positioned the 185-pounder in the No. 7-slot in the rankings for the UFC’s stacked middleweight division.
Brunson credits his recent success to his teammates and coaches at Samford MMA.
“I have guys full-time coaching me now, where people are training 24/7 to be the best in the world,” Brunson said.
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Month-Long Stays at Samford MMA
The gym was founded under a different name back in 2017 by Henri Hooft and Greg Jones.
Now, it’s home to some of the best MMA fighters in the world including current UFC stars Brunson, Gilbert Burns and Michael Chandler.
The fighter said his last two camps have been month-long stays in Florida, and it led to some of his best work in MMA.
“I go out there about four or five weeks before the fight, and I’ll stay out there. In my first two fight-camps, I went home after two weeks. But the third and the fourth one, I didn’t go back home. Because of COVID. I didn’t want to keep going back and forth,” Brunson said.
The fighter said he’s upped his training to a new intensity for his last two camps. Last time, it paid off with Brunson stopping previously undefeated phenom Shahbazyan. Now, Brunson hopes to stop a similar hype train behind Kevin Holland.
Middleweight’s beware… Kevin Holland is coming.
“Training is so intense for this one. I just stayed there the whole time,” Brunson said.
Brunson credits his coaches and the other fighters at Samford MMA for being among the best in the world at what they do.
“The coaches are good. They’re all world-class, and the training partners are world-class, too. It just adds to my readiness for a particular fight,” Brunson said.
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No Beaches for Brunson
While the gym’s location in Deerfield Beach is near some of the top-rated beaches in the United States, Brunson said he skips the sun and sand for something even better for him during training: sleep.
“I don’t go to the beach because I’m always too tired. Training is super intense. I just hit the bed and crash immediately, and by the time I wake up, it’s time to go back to the gym,” Brunson said.
Brunson’s hard work at the gym is paying off, and the fighter said he hopes notching another big win this weekend will put him in line for a title shot at 185.
“I’m in a pretty good spot…In order to get a title shot, I got to take care of Holland,” Brunson said.
UFC Fight Night: Brunson vs. Holland
Brunson takes on Holland in the main event of UFC Vegas 22 on March 20. The two fighters have gone back and forth on social media, but Brunson said none of those types of activities get into his head these days.
In fact, Brunson actually credited Holland for being a solid all-around fighter.
“He’s a tall, rangy guy. He’s solid in a lot of places. I don’t think he’s great at any one thing, but I think he’s good at a lot of things,” Brunson.
Brunson noted the fighter had some trash talk skills, but he also said none of that matters on fight night.
“He likes to talk a lot. It doesn’t matter to me…When it’s time to fight, it’s time to fight. That’s how I look at it,” Brunson said.
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