Derek Brunson on TKO stoppage of Sam Alvey at UFC Fight Night 73: 'That's MMA now'

Derek Brunson kept his recent run of success going at UFC Fight Night 73 with a first round TKO of Sam Alvey.

Brunson (14-3 MMA, 5-1 UFC) is now riding a three-fight winning streak with TKO stoppages of Alvey (26-7 MMA, 3-2 UFC) and Ed Herman in his most recent fights. Brunson came into the fight with Alvey in an “honorable mention” spot in the NOS Energy Drink MMA middleweight rankings.

Many felt that Brunson would look to avoid engaging in striking exchanges with Alvey. After all, Alvey came into the fight, which aired on the Fox Sports 1 main card from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, on a streak of three consecutive knockout wins.

“I work really hard,” Brunson said after his win. “Every fight I look to come and be aggressive. I like to think of myself as a smart guy and use my head. I saw some openings, I pressed him against the cage, I went toward his legs and felt his pressure toward the takedown and he didn’t give me much. He actually gave me a heavy little sprawl so I came up with some punches. I saw some openings where I could come over the top or underneath and I caught him with some punches there. He was really worried about me punching out of the clinch and that’s when I saw time to get some gauge and throw a straight and I caught him with that. I had him a little wobbled so I followed up with some punches after that.”

Brunson studied tape coming into the fight and felt that he knew the path to victory was to keep Alvey away from situations where he could truly rely on his power punches.

“I watched a lot of film and I know that he wants to counter,” Brunson said. “Every time he was countering I was ducking under his punches. I knew they were coming. I knew I had to change my levels and be ready to slip and see them. They were more of defensive punches. I had his back against the cage so he couldn’t create that much power from there. He’s normally dangerous in the open, in the middle of the cage where he can slip his head off and get some big winding punches. But I had him pressed up against the cage so a lot of those punches were defensive. I saw openings and I was just throwing.”

There was some concern over the stoppage, which came at the 2:19 mark of Round 1.

Alvey attempted to stand up and protest the stop, suggesting that he could continue fighting. His legs, however, betrayed him, leaving him unsteady even as he tried to argue his fitness.

“That was a good stoppage,” Brunson said. “That’s MMA now. If I get tagged, that’s how the fight is going to go. They’re going to stop the fight. He went limp whenever I hit him. The only thing left from there was unloading more punches. There’s no need for him to take that damage. I hit him a couple of times and he was just limp. Obviously, a little more target on the punches and I would have knocked him straight out. Good stoppage. I just got the better of him at that time and I got the stoppage.”

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 73, check out the UFC Events section of the site.