#Derek Brunson finding renewed UFC success thanks to patience

Patience is a virtue Derek Brunson finally has embraced, and it’s led to his best run of success in the UFC in five years.

The 37-year-old middleweight, who will face Kevin Holland in Saturday’s main event of an ESPN-aired UFC Fight Night from UFC Apex in Las Vegas, had fought past the first round just four times in 14 bouts during his first six years with the promotion. In his current three-fight win streak, each fight has reached round three.

The lesson of taking a more measured approach from Brunson’s (21-7, 15 finishes) experience fighting a who’s who of MMA greats between 2016 and 2018: former middleweight champions Robert Whittaker and Anderson Silva, current champ Israel Adesanya, ex-light heavyweight king Lyoto Machida and longtime 185-pound elite contender Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza. 

Brunson went 2-4 in that run (knocking out Machida and former Olympic judoka Daniel Kelly), with many arguing he deserved a decision over the legendary Silva at Barclays Center four years ago that went the other way. The other three defeats came as first-round TKOs.

“It’s all about just being patient,” Brunson told The Post over the phone on Wednesday. “In those fights, a lot of those fights, I just didn’t take my time. Going forward, that’s just been my focus is to show I’m a martial artist but being patient and not rushing the process.”

The new state of mind was on display in his lone 2020 appearance, a headlining victory on Aug. 1 against rising prospect Edmen Shahbazyan. In a close first round, then-22-year-old Shaybazyan landed some big strikes. But Brunson held steady, relying on a lifetime of wrestling to secure a takedown and land enough effective striking offense to win the round on two of three judges’ scorecards. 

From there, it was mostly Brunson doling out punishment to the upstart 185-pounder. The fight appeared near a finish as the bell rang to end the second, and the veteran finished the job by securing a TKO stoppage 26 seconds into the final frame of the unusual three-round main event. The loss was the first of Shahbazyan’s career and came nearly a year after Brunson halted the momentum of Ian Heinisch, who entered with just one loss and a head of steam.

“It’s more about just imposing my will and not rushing,” Brunson said of his approach in the Shahbazyan victory. “I can get guys to where they can’t take my pace, they’re not able to compete, if I just take my time as opposed to just trying to go out there and rush and knock them out really quick.

“That’s just been a training point and a part that I added to my game and just really trying to dissect the guy rather than just trying to run straight through them.” 

That strategy could serve him well against Holland (21-5, 17 finishes), who’s a talented and aggressive striker plus unafraid to attack submissions. The 28-year-old did, however, admit earlier this week to preferring three-round fights as opposed to his first UFC five-rounder.

“I don’t like the idea of fighting for 25 minutes,” Holland told reporters at Wednesday’s pre-fight news conference. “… You can make me the co-main [event] champ.”

Holland has been to a decision four times in 10 UFC outings. He’s lost the third round on a majority of judges’ scorecards three times, including a unanimous 10-8 against former light heavyweight title challenger Thiago Santos in Holland’s short-notice octagon debut.

It all points to a fighter Brunson would be wise to drag into deeper waters the way he has done during his recent streak. And, if he can get the job done, he’s banking on moving past the recent string of up-and-comers he’s turned away and onto those in in the title mix at middleweight.

“I look at it as a guy with momentum [in Holland] that all the fans are high on,” Brunson said, “and an opportunity to take that little bit of shine of his and add it onto what I’ve been doing.”

Brunson believes there’s potential to earn his first title shot against Adesanya, who knocked him out with nine seconds to go in the first round of what had for the first four minutes been a competitive Nov. 3, 2018, clash at Madison Square Garden. Although his name isn’t the first that comes to mind for most, there is no clear-cut middleweight challenger waiting in the wings, and several contenders also were beaten by the champ.

Regardless, Brunson says he would hold firm in his desire to take on an opponent of greater prestige if he leaves Las Vegas with a four-fight win streak.

“I want a contender fight,” Brunson added. “I’m not going to settle for anything less than a contender fight.”

If Brunson manages to secure a second chance at the champ, he believes his newfound patience will be a key to reversing the result.

“I’m just more patient, just more subtle and strategic in my approach,” Brunson said. “If you go look at that fight … A lot of people [say], ‘Oh, you got destroyed.’ No, no, that wasn’t the case. He caught me with a knee [late in the first round] … I was just a little impatient, very predictable [and] shot in [for takedowns] right off the breaks.

“We’re just mixing it up [now]. Instead of going for the shot, I’ll mix it up and put hands on him next time instead of shooting at that time. That’s been a part of my continuous growth. It’s just continuing to mix things up better and not get so predictable.”