5 times that Derek Brunson destroyed his opponent in first round in the UFC

This weekend sees Derek Brunson take on Kevin Holland in a Middleweight bout in the main event of UFC Vegas 22, and this fight promises to be explosive.

Kevin Holland might be getting the hype right now, but Derek Brunson is one of the most dangerous fighters in the UFC, with numerous violent finishes to his name.

In fact, of Brunson’s 12 UFC victories, eight of them have ended in devastating fashion, usually with his opponent left unconscious.

So without further ado, here are five times Derek Brunson absolutely destroyed his opponent in the first round in the UFC.

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#1 Derek Brunson vs. Lyoto Machida – UFC Fight Night 119

Derek Brunson ruined Lyoto Machida's big UFC comeback in 2017.

Derek Brunson’s biggest UFC win came in 2017 against former UFC Light Heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida.

Coming into the fight, everything seemed stacked in Machida’s favor. The fight was scheduled to main-event UFC Fight Night 119, which was booked for Machida’s home country of Brazil.

And more to the point, it was Machida’s first UFC fight in over two years following a lengthy suspension from USADA.

Basically, the fans in attendance were hoping to see The Dragon return with a big win. Unfortunately for them, Brunson had other ideas.

In his prime, Machida was renowned for his speed. Against the explosive Brunson, though, he looked stuck in the mud.

Midway through the first round, Brunson caught him with a left hand that stunned him. Brunson then swarmed on him with a brutal barrage that forced the referee to stop the fight.

Brunson had spoiled the night for plenty of Brazilian UFC fans – but he’d also treated them to a pretty insane knockout.

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#2 Derek Brunson vs. Uriah Hall – UFC Fight Night 94

Brunson took out another knockout artist in the form of Uriah Hall at UFC Fight Night 94.

UFC Fight Night 94 is usually remembered as the show that saw Dustin Poirier suffer a shock knockout at the hands of Michael Johnson.

The co-main event, however, saw an even more explosive knockout, courtesy of Derek Brunson.

He was matched with fellow knockout artist Uriah Hall, and going in, it seemed like whichever way the fight went, someone was getting sparked out.

That someone turned out to be Hall. Prime Time looked to unleash his kicks in the early going, but after 90 seconds, Brunson clearly decided it was too dangerous to let him out of first gear.

And so he rushed him, decked him with a savage left hook, and finished him off on the ground.

It was only the second time Hall had been stopped in his lengthy career. And by taking out such a vaunted striker, Brunson sent a big message to the rest of the UFC Middleweight division – he was a man to be feared.

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#3 Derek Brunson vs. Dan Kelly – UFC Fight Night 110

Derek Brunson wasted no time in taking out Dan Kelly in 2017.

Known as DadBod due to his less-than-flattering physique, Australian judoka Dan Kelly had nonetheless gained a lot of popularity with UFC fans by 2017.

Coming into UFC Fight Night 110 – which took place in New Zealand – Kelly was on an unlikely four-fight win streak. He’d even beaten former UFC champion Rashad Evans.

When he arrived in Auckland, though, he ran into Derek Brunson, and very soon, his winning run was over.

Most fans felt that Kelly’s boxing was underrated, but Brunson scythed right through him standing, crushing him with a left hook midway through the first round.

Kelly went crashing to the ground face-first, and just like that, Brunson had picked up another big knockout win.

The fans in attendance naturally weren’t pleased to see their cult hero go down, but it was hard not to admire a vicious knockout like this one.

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#4 Derek Brunson vs. Sam Alvey – UFC Fight Night 73

Derek Brunson brutalized Sam Alvey in 2015.

Sam Alvey’s meeting with Derek Brunson at UFC Fight Night 73 was a clash of knockout artists. And at the time, Smilin Sam had the more fearsome reputation.

He’d used his notorious counter right hook to knock out three straight UFC foes, and was looking to do the same to Brunson.

However, when the fight began, it quickly became clear that Alvey had a problem. He simply wasn’t on the same athletic level as Brunson, who could rush in to land flurries of punches without leaving himself open for the counter.

And with just over two minutes of the fight gone, Brunson decided to really open up. He swarmed all over Smilin Sam with a brutal flurry of shots, stunning him with a series of left hands.

Alvey tried to fight back, but simply wilted under the fury of Brunson, who closed the fight out once Alvey hit the ground.

This was a brutal reminder that even a skilled fighter like Smilin Sam could be blown away by the sheer explosiveness of Brunson.

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#5 Derek Brunson vs. Roan Carneiro – UFC Fight Night 83

Derek Brunson used his counterstriking skills to take out Roan Carneiro in 2016.

By early 2016, the entire UFC Middleweight division knew all about Derek Brunson’s ability to explode at an opponent with flurries of heavy punches.

And so, in their clash at UFC Fight Night 83, veteran Roan Carneiro decided he’d try a different approach.

Rather than wait for Brunson to come to him, he decided to take the fight to his opponent. And so, midway through the first round, Jucao charged at Brunson with a flurry of punches, looking to turn the tables.

It turned out to be a deadly error.

Brunson countered and floored him with a right hand that the cameras barely even caught.

And with Carneiro prone on the ground, Brunson followed him down and unleashed some ruthless ground-and-pound until the referee decided he’d seen enough.

This finish displayed a new wrinkle in Brunson’s game – not only could he take out an opponent in quick and devastating fashion by rushing them, but he was equally dangerous on the counter, too.

And four years later, he remains one of the UFC’s most dangerous Middleweight fighters.