{"id":268877,"date":"2018-01-28T05:54:34","date_gmt":"2018-01-28T13:54:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/?p=268877"},"modified":"2018-01-28T05:54:34","modified_gmt":"2018-01-28T13:54:34","slug":"derek-brunson-reacts-first-round-loss-jacare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/derek-brunson\/derek-brunson-reacts-first-round-loss-jacare\/","title":{"rendered":"Derek Brunson reacts to first-round loss to “Jacare”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last night, in the main event of the UFC’s anticipated stop in Charlotte, North Carolina, long-time middleweight contender Derek Brunson returned to the loss column thanks to a thudding first-round head-kick dealt by former Strikeforce champ Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Despite the fact that he has now lost twice to Souza, and that he’s now 2-3 in his last 5, Brunson is still optimistic he can find his way to the top of the UFC middleweight division.<\/p>\n

\u201cDefinitely not to the top five or anything,” Brunson told MMAJunkie<\/a> of what comes next for him after this fight. “I\u2019m back to the drawing board. I don\u2019t know. He might have a couple more years in the sport. I have a little more years than he has left in the sport. I can still get to that top spot.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEverything was going good; I was feeling good,\u201d Brunson continued, discussing his performance. \u201cI felt I had the speed advantage big time. I saw some [times] where I could have turned it a little more, but I really wanted to stick to my game plan and just be patient and take my time and not make mistakes out there. But I learned the hard way. Definitely have to be a little bit tighter out there as far as defending kicks. Even if I do think I\u2019m seeing things well, just got to be a little bit tighter.”<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t blame nobody but myself,\u201d he concluded. \u201cI look at the replay and, man, I cover up a little bit tighter, and we\u2019re still in the fight. I felt really good in the fight, was doing well. I saw myself taking him out, but hey, it didn\u2019t go my way. So it\u2019s just back to the drawing board.\u201d<\/p>\n

Needless to say, Brunson seems to be in reasonably good spirits. This fact also shone through in his brief, post-fight statement on social media.<\/p>\n