UFC 241 Results - Derek Brunson Outworks Ian Heinisch, Hands Him His First Loss

After winning a contract with Dana White’s Contender Series, Ian Heinisch rolled into the UFC with two straight wins over Cezar Ferreira, Antonio Carlos Jr. and managed to crack the top-15 rankings in just one year. The former LFA middle weight champion went on to call out fellow wrestler Brunson after his embarrassing loss to Israel Adesanya. The #8 ranked UFC veteran, Brunson wasted no time and accepted the challenge from the lesser ranked Heinisch.

Speaking about the match up Brunson said “He’s like 5-foot-11, 6-foot-tall at best, 71- or 72-inch reach. I’ve got a 78-inch reach. He’s a wrestler per se, I’ve never been taken down in a fight. I take everybody down. I’ve got guys that I wrestle with everyday that I know are better than him. So for him to feel like he has the better wrestling, I’m like OK that’s another challenge.”

But Brunson had to survive the initial storm Heinisch brought in the opening seconds of the first round as he landed a massive head kick that stunned Brunson. But the UFC veteran managed to stay in the fight as he clinched Heinisch and looked to take him down. Brunson recovered and slowly began to settle in the fight as he found his rhythm and timing with his punches. Brunson’s experience came into play from the second round as he began landing strikes with precision and weathered Heinisch down who started to show sign of slowing down. None of Heinisch’s take down attempts materialized but Brunson made him pay with his two beautifully timed ones. Exhausted and worn out, Heinisch continued to press forward but kept on eating accurate punches from Brunson who secured both the second and third round to his name. Ian Heinisch’s attempts could not get him the W and he snapped his five fight win streak and tastes defeat for the first time in his career. With this win, Brunson picked up his second win of the year and his eleventh UFC win.