Derek Brunson has revealed what UFC president Dana White told him upon his departure from the promotion.
Brunson, who was scheduled to fight Roman Dolidze at UFC 295, parted ways with the UFC in September and joined the PFL, where he is set to make his debut against Ray Cooper III at PFL 10.
In a recent interview with MMA Fighting, Brunson explained why he abruptly cut ties with the promotion he had been a part of for over 10 years.
“I think it was at the time that we both went our separate ways,” Brunson said. “I had a good run there but I guess where I’m at in my career, at my age, some of the things that go on there didn’t make sense for me. It was just tough to get up for these fights, for all these top guys. It was just perfect time for both of us to move on.”
Despite both parties agreeing to part ways, Brunson mentioned that he received a call from Dana after the UFC CEO made a few stingy comments about his release during a press conference.
“Somebody asked Dana [White] something about me at the last card and Dana called me right after,” Brunson revealed. “He’s like ‘I didn’t hear what they said, it could have come across as weird but I wanted to let you know I wasn’t trying to slight you or anything like that.’ It was no animosity, no ill will. I put in some hard work in the UFC. I don’t think what I’ve done can be duplicated. The UFC is a lot different from when I first joined. Only the baddest guys fought in the UFC. Now the UFC, they’re signing a lot of guys so they can build more guys up. It’s just bigger so they’ve got a lot more guys.”
What are your thoughts on Brunson parting ways with the UFC and signing with PFL?
