UFC 208’s Brunson furious with controversial loss to Anderson Silva: The win was ‘taken from me’

Derek Brunson is not happy about his decision loss to Anderson Silva at UFC 208.

Many pros scored the fight for Brunson, including light heavyweight champion and UFC 208 commentator Daniel Cormier, but Silva walked away with a unanimous decision win.

Brunson, 33, landed the heavier shots but ‘The Spider’ entertained the crowd with his showboating and flamboyance. Brunson landed solid shots in the clinch, but Silva almost seemed to allow them, similar to how he invited Jorge Rivera to hit him at will at Cage Rage 11 in 2005.

Brunson, who is still ranked as the No. 8 middleweight contender in the world, believes he ‘outclassed’ Silva at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center and says he put his ‘heart and soul’ into the fight only to have the win take away from him.

The North Carolina-based fighter also joked that the New York judges must have been blind to score the fight for Silva.

The loss marks Brunson’s second straight, as the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu purple belt was knocked out in the first round by Robert Whittaker at UFC Fight Night 101.

Silva, 41, earned his first official win in almost five years. The Brazilian beat Nick Diaz to a decision in 2015 but the bout was overturned to a No Contest after Silva tested positive for steroids.