A middleweight fight between Derek Brunson and Ian Heinisch has been booked for UFC 241 in Anaheim, California on August 17th.
For Brunson the fight comes after earning a unanimous decision victory over Elias Theodorou last month in Canada.
That win was a welcome relief for the 35-year-old after having suffered back-to-back losses against two of the leading fighters in the division, Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza and Israel Adesanya during his 2018 campaign.
In total Brunson has a recent record of 4-2 though, including a KO victory over Lyoto Machida, and that means he still holds down the No.9 spot on the middleweight rankings.
As for Heinisch, he arrived in the UFC via Dana White’s Contender Series and has made an immediate impact, earning decision victories over both Cezar Ferreira and Antonio Carlos Jr.
That’s extended his career record to 13-1 and has saw him enter the middleweight rankings at No.11 prior to this match-up.
Brunson Vs Heinisch joins a UFC 241 card that’s set to be headlined by a heavyweight title rematch between Daniel Cormier and Stipe Miocic, while it will also see the return of Nate Diaz against Anthony Pettis plus middleweight action as Yoel Romero going up against one of his biggest rivals Paulo Costa.