Derek Brunson (photo via UFC / YouTube)

By FCF Staff

Following his impressive win over Edmen Shahbazyan on Saturday, Derek Brunson let it be known he doesn’t believe he’s receiving the respect he deserves.

Brunson faced the rising middleweight in the headliner of UFC Vegas 5, and after a fairly even opening round, the middleweight hurt Shahbazyan badly with ground-and-pound strikes. Not long into round three, the 36-year-old scored with more heavy shots and the fight was stopped.

Heading into the fight, Brunson was a considerable underdog on the betting lines. While talking about his impressive win after the event, the longtime contender said this (quotes via MMA Junkie).

“I’m not given enough respect in this division,” Brunson said. “I’m OK with earning it. There have been fights where I’ve had the flu. I went to the doctor to nurse myself back to health – and five days later to fight. … We had a hurricane in North Carolina, and I was home with the family, making sure everything was OK. I had to fight 10 days after that when I wasn’t training for two weeks.

“Nobody cares about those excuses. But whenever I have a fight, yes, I want to prepare properly and get a full camp in with the guys down there with Henri Hooft and Sanford MMA to get me ready for these big fights.”

With the win, Brunson moved his record to 21-7 and he’s now won three straight fights. Prior to the winning streak, the heavy-handed wrestler had incurred consecutive losses  against ‘Jacare’ Souza and current champion, Israel Adesanya.

Shahbazyan was defeated for the first time and his record is now 11-1.