Derek Brunson vs Anderson Silva: Why was the UFC 208 fight dubbed a 'robbery'?

Derek Brunson faced MMA legend and former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva in a middleweight matchup at UFC 208 on February 11th, 2017. The fight transpired at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Their back-and-forth showdown witnessed both athletes go the three-round distance.

The three official judges declared Silva the winner via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27). However, certain sections of the MMA community, including Derek Brunson and UFC president Dana White, opined that Brunson was more deserving of the judges' nod.

The fight was closely contested, as Brazilian striking savant Anderson Silva appeared to land the cleaner strikes in round one, while Derek Brunson had the edge in the volume of strikes and landed a takedown towards the end of the round.

Former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva seemingly got the better of the striking exchanges in round two, whilst largely avoiding Brunson's grappling. In the third and final round, Silva similarly took a striking-centric approach. Brunson went back to his wrestling roots and ended the third round in the top position with 'The Spider' against the mat.

Judge Doug Crosby scored rounds two and three as 10-9 rounds for Silva, and round one as 10-9 for Brunson, handing 'The Spider' a 29-28 score. Meanwhile, judge Derek Cleary scored rounds one and three as 10-9 rounds in favor of Silva, while giving Brunson a 10-9 score in round two, granting Silva a 29-28 score.

Moreover, judge Eric Colon scored all three rounds as 10-9 for Silva, giving him a 30-27 score. Be that as it may, some fans and experts regard the Brunson matchup as a robbery to this very day.

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Josh Thomson on Derek Brunson's upcoming UFC 285 fight against Dricus du Plessis

Derek Brunson hasn't competed since his second-round KO defeat against Jared Cannonier in February 2022. That said, the 39-year-old middleweight mainstay will return against 29-year-old Dricus du Plessis at UFC 285 on March 4th, 2023.

Former UFC lightweight Josh Thomson addressed the fight on the Weighing In podcast. Thomson insinuated that Derek Brunson would likely dominate Dricus du Plessis if he consistently takes things to the mat and doesn't get caught on the feet.

However, he warned that Du Plessis could make Brunson work hard in round two and rally in round three, as he (Brunson) generally gets tired by the fight's third round. Thomson stated:

"He [Brunson] tries to stay busy so he doesn't get stood up, but he's a sprinter. He's somebody that when that third round hits, he's not the same fighter that he was in the first and second. I think Brunson should dominate this fight though."

Watch Thomson's assessment at 1:23:50 in the video below: