Derek Brunson has made himself a mainstay in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s middleweight division, even if he has yet to sniff the upper reaches of a weight class currently ruled by Michael Bisping.
As Brunson prepares for his three-round clash with the returning Machida, here are some of the numbers that have come to define him:
2: Post-fight performance bonuses earned since joining the Ultimate Fighting Championship roster in late 2012. Ironically, both were netted in defeat. Brunson was awarded $50,000 “Fight of the Night” bonuses in losses to Yoel Romero and Robert Whittaker.
3: Professional wins by submission. All three resulted in rear-naked chokes.
4: Appearances in Strikeforce. Brunson posted a 3-1 record inside the Scott Coker-led promotion, an August 2012 knockout loss to Ronaldo Souza his only misstep.
6:32: Minutes per fight in the UFC. According to FightMetric, that ranks as the fourth-shortest average fight time in the organization among active middleweights, trailing only Vitor Belfort (5:02), Thiago Santos (5:25) and Luke Rockhold (6:27).
9: Consecutive victories to start his career. Brunson cut his teeth on the regional scene in North Carolina, Florida and Rhode Island before linking arms with Strikeforce.
10: Wins by knockout or technical knockout. His list of victims includes the aforementioned Kelly, two-time Ring of Combat champion Uriah Hall, American Top Team’s Roan Carneiro, former Maximum Fighting Championship titleholder Sam Alvey and “The Ultimate Fighter 3” finalist Ed Herman.
13: First-round finishes to his credit. Brunson has stopped opponents in 14, 36, 41, 48, 52, 67 and 76 seconds.
32: Percentage of takedown attempts completed -- a surprisingly low number when considering his status as a three time NCAA All-American wrestler at the University of North Carolina-Pembroke.
33: Years of age. Brunson was born on Jan. 4, 1984 in Wilmington, North Carolina. “Terms of Endearment” was the No. 1 movie at the domestic box office at the time.
166: Total strikes by which Brunson has outlanded his 11 opponents in the UFC, including shutouts against Carneiro (27-0), Herman (11-0) and Brian Houston (1-0). Only Whittaker, Romero and Chris Leben have managed to outstrike him inside the Octagon.