Derek Brunson signs with BKFC, set for bare-knuckle debut on November 20 in Myrtle Beach

Former UFC middleweight contender Derek Brunson has signed with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) and will make his bare-knuckle debut at BKFC Fight Night Myrtle Beach on Friday, November 20, at the Myrtle Beach Sports Center in South Carolina. The promotion announced the signing on Saturday, October 17, during its BKFC 95 fight night in Newark, posting on X that "Derek Brunson is taking the gloves off November 20th!" His opponent has not been named.

According to Caged Minds, Brunson, 42, agreed to a multi-fight promotional deal. MiddleEasy noted that the announcement itself did not identify an opponent, a contracted weight or the number of bouts in the agreement, so those details are still to come.

What BKFC said

BKFC founder and president David Feldman welcomed the veteran in a statement reported by Caged Minds. "We're honored to have Derek Brunson sign with BKFC," Feldman said. "We've long admired his world class skills and can't wait to see him in the Squared Circle. We're positive he's going to make some serious noise fighting for BKFC."

Caged Minds added that Brunson has spent the past three years training and helping develop younger fighters and is now ready to return to competition.

Brunson's MMA career

Brunson, from Wilmington, North Carolina, holds a 24-9 professional MMA record. From December 2012 to March 2023 he fought 21 times in the UFC and went 14-7, according to MMA Junkie, with key wins over Lyoto Machida, Darren Till, Kevin Holland, Lorenz Larkin and Chris Leben. He submitted Till in the third round in September 2021, and his UFC run ended with a stoppage loss to Dricus du Plessis at UFC 285.

He has not competed since a one-off appearance for the PFL on November 24, 2023, when he was hurt by a left hand in the first round but recovered on the ground to beat Ray Cooper III by unanimous decision with scores of 30-27, 30-25 and 30-25, per MiddleEasy.

A very different ruleset

Brunson built his MMA success largely on wrestling, and that part of his game disappears in BKFC. MiddleEasy points out that the promotion only allows closed-fist punches, with no kicks, knees, elbows or grappling. Fighters can work in the clinch, but the referee separates them after three seconds without activity, and there are no strikes on a downed opponent. Bouts are scheduled for five two-minute rounds.

Fan reaction collected by MMA Sucka was split, with some backing Brunson to score knockouts and others warning that a grappling-heavy style may not suit bare-knuckle fighting. Some fans suggested matchups with fellow UFC veterans on the BKFC roster, such as Till and Sam Alvey, both of whom Brunson beat in the UFC. No such fight has been discussed by BKFC.

The Myrtle Beach card

BKFC's event page lists an 8 p.m. local start. The card so far is headed by a bantamweight bout between Keith Richardson and Joshua Oxendine, and also includes middleweights Evan Pierce vs Diego Romo and bantamweights Austen Coleman vs Alex Eliam. Brunson's matchup had not been added to the event page at the time of writing.