OTTAWA, Ontario – UFC middleweight Derek Brunson is approaching his fight with Elias Theodorou with a mantra: don’t rush.

“I can look back on some of my fights, (and) even the good ones where I got the knockout, I thought, ‘Ah, I probably should have toned it down a little bit,’” Brunson told reporters at a media day for his co-feature bout at UFC on ESPN+ 9 at Canadian Tire Centre

The last time Brunson rushed, he met a knee to the head that robbed him of the chance to upset one of the sport’s hottest prospects. A grudge match with Israel Adesanya at UFC 230 wasn’t an opportunity to settle a score, but one to steal the thunder of the striking phenom. And it went south because, as he said, he got greedy.

“Sometimes, I get in the way of my own self,” he said. “Like, I know by far I’m a better grappler than him. So going into the fight, my previous fights, I just got too greedy with the hands. I’m just headhunting, trying to knock people out.

“I said in (the Adesanya) fight, I’m not going to do that. I’m going to wrestle, wrestle, wrestle. And I’m shooting without any setup of the hands, and I shoot in one time, and he catches me with a knee. I was a little dazed, and I was like, ‘C’mon, let’s fight.’”

Adesanya did just that, and nine seconds before the horn sounded to end the opening round, the fight was over. Brunson doesn’t buy into the idea that he lost his only chance. Wait long enough, he said, and everyone will come back to earth.

“Just like Conor (McGregor),” he said. “I remember people thinking he couldn’t lose, and I’m like, c’mon guys. That ain’t really realistic. He has several holes in his game. But when he loses, everyone’s like, ah. You’ve just got to stay on top of your game.”

To stay on top of his, Brunson moved out of his comfort zone, which meant leaving the gym he opened two years ago to stay close to his family. He spent five weeks training in Florida to focus on himself.

From the get-go, Brunson (18-7 MMA, 9-5 UFC) had struggled to keep training partners that were at his level and could make a commitment. He didn’t have any of those problems this time around.

For better or worse, he believes he won’t have to worry about pace when he meets Theodorou (15-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC), who’s not known to be much of a brawler.

“He’s not really great at any one thing, but he’s pretty solid at everything,” Brunson said. “He’s not going to rush the fight. He’s going to take his time and pick up the fight via the scoring system.”

That means Brunson will have to go on the attack more often than not. This time, though, he’ll try to be smart about when and how fast he takes things. He doesn’t want to wind up on the wrong side of another highlight reel again.

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