Training out of Hard Knocks 365 in Fort Lauderdale in Florida, United States, Derek “The Gatekeeper” Brunson, 35, of Wilmington, North Carolina, USA was one of the winners at “UFC 241.” It was his 11th victory in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Featuring 12 professional mixed martial arts bouts, “UFC 241” took place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, USA on August 17, 2019. In the eighth bout of the evening, Brunson fought Ian “The Hurricane” Heinisch, 31, of Highlands Ranch, Colorado, USA in the middleweight division with Mike Beltran as the referee.
In the first round, Heinisch knocked Brunson down with a kick to the head. The Hard Knocks 365 athlete just shook it off and locked up with the Highlands Ranch native and bulled him into the fence.
With powerful strikes, Heinisch tried to outperform Brunson. But the latter did not allow that as he landed several hard shots in the second and third rounds.
After three five-minute rounds, the middleweight bout was left in the hands of the three judges, who all scored it 29-28. In the end, Beltran raised the hand of Brunson, who was declared the winner via unanimous decision.
“I just have to be ready because these guys are coming to get me,” the Hard Knocks 365 representative said in his post-fight interview. “They might not be better in certain spots, but they are going to get me because everyone wants that opportunity.”
Winning at “UFC 241” improved the professional MMA record of Brunson to 20 wins and 7 losses. On the other hand, Heinisch now has 13 wins and 2 losses.
Competing professionally since 2010, Brunson joined the UFC in 2012. He defeated his first two opponents in the promotion namely Chris “The Crippler” Leben, 39, of Portland, Oregon, USA and Brian “B-Hue” Houston, 32, of Omaha, Nebraska, USA.
Including Leben and Houston, Brunson defeated 10 opponents in the UFC prior to “UFC 241.” The others were Lorenz “The Monsoon” Larkin, 32, of Riverside, California, Ed “Short Fuse” Herman, 38, of Portland, Sam “Smile’N” Alvey, 33, of Waterford, Wisconsin, USA, Roan “Jucao” Carneiro, 41, of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Uriah “Primetime” Hall, 35, of New York City, New York, USA, Dan Kelly, 41, of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida, 41, of Belem, Para, Brazil and Elias “The Spartan” Theodorou, 31, of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.
Seven countries were represented at “UFC 241” namely Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, Nigeria, South Korea and the U.S. Brunson and Heinisch were two of the 17 fighters who represented the U.S.
Here is Brunson in a “UFC 241” post-fight interview:
CONAN Daily 