Derek Brunson continues his winning streak as he stops Darren Till in the third round. It was the classic wrestler vs striker fight. Unfortunately, Till’s grappling needs a bit of work after this disappointing performance. Although Till had moments where he landed great strikes, it was still not enough against a great fighter like Derek Brunson.
Till had no answer in Brunson’s grappling, as he showed that he may be one-dimensional and it is hard to stay at the top of the fighter is not well-rounded. Not to take away Brunson’s fantastic performance, he just showed up and might have a shot against the title soon. 
In the early parts of the fight, Till had to advance to take away Brunson’s pressure but it was a matter of time for Brunson to time a takedown. Once taken down, he had no answer. There were moments that Till had Brunson in trouble but he just couldn’t capitalize on it. Brunson managed to sink in a rear-naked choke that stopped the fight.
After submitting Till, Brunson proceeded to the camera calling out the current champion, Adesanya. Both had an encounter before exchanging not-so-nice words but it was Adesanya who got his hands raised.
Till looked in tremendous shape, and on the feet, he was the better fighter but Brunson may be the best chain wrestler in the division right now. He hasn’t lost since 2018 and it was against the current champion, Israel Adesanya. If we look at Brunson’s record at middleweight, you could really see that he is an elite fighter only losing to fighters that go on to fight for the title or #1 contender.
Israel Adesanya also responded to Brunson’s call-out which is a nice tease but no other fighter has a better say for a title shot than Robert Whittaker. As for Brunson, he could fight Jared Cannonier and it will be a great fight for both, whoever wins that fight might grant the fighter a title shot.
Calm down…boy.
You still a bum…son. pic.twitter.com/8LymB7PLm3— Israel Adesanya (@stylebender) September 4, 2021
As for Darren Till, he may need to work on his grappling. He has already proven that his striking is one of the best in the UFC but that alone could not bring him to the top. Even in the striking, he got knocked out by Jorge Masvidal and outstruck by Robert Whittaker. Till is still a young fighter and could improve in the future.
The middleweight division keeps on coming and the current King is still Israel Adesanya. Whether it is Whittaker or Brunson who are in line for a title shot, it will be a rematch. Adesanya has beaten them in the past but those past opponents have climbed their back up and improved. They could make adjustments that could give Adesanya problems.
