nt"

Derek Brunson is ready to take on the upper echelon of the UFC middleweight division.

Brunson (21-7 MMA, 12-5 UFC), who recently put a halt to three rising contenders’ winning streaks, thinks he’s done more than enough to get a crack at some of the higher-ranked 185 pounders. He’s coming off a third-round finish of previously unbeaten Edmen Shahbazyan in August and is done being the veteran that young stars are trying to build their names off.

Although he was recently offered a former champion, Brunson is eyeing someone who will help propel him to a title run.

“It’s one fight that I’ve really been offered, Chris Weidman, he’s a guy who’s ranked No. 10 right now,” Brunson told MMA Junkie. “A good fight, I love that fight, but it’s like before that fight was offered to me, I was sitting back saying, ‘OK, I’ve fought three guys that have been ranked behind me. I’ve fought all these guys that’s ranked ahead of me, and whenever I fought them, I was ranked ahead of them.

“So now, my whole mindset has been I need somebody that’s ranked well ahead of me – or I’m no. 7, it’s not guys that are crazy ranked in front of me, but I need somebody that’s ranked ahead of me, who’s surging, who’s gonna give me that opportunity to put myself in that title talk.”

Brunson has called out the likes of Paulo Costa and Darren Till, but no big fight has materialized for him yet as he looks to return by early next year.

“I’m really angling for a big fight,” Brunson said. “I need something that has a chance to elevate me. I need to put it on the line, and validate my whole career and what I’ve been training for. Ultimately push to see if I can get into title contention, push to be a top-five guy, a guy that’s gonna put me in the top five, three, four range.”