Derek Brunson Biography: Age, Wife, Net Worth, Height, Record & UFC Ranking

Biography

Derek Brunson is an American professional mixed martial artist. Brunson currently competes in the Middleweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of March 4, 2023, he is ranked #8 in the UFC middleweight.

Derek Brunson was a competitive cheerleader and also wrestled at John T. Hoggard High School in Wilmington, North Carolina, under coach Dan Willis. He had scholarships for both cheerleading and wrestling, but he chose to wrestle in college.

Brunson was a three-time NCAA Division II All-American wrestler for the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. He turned his attention to mixed martial arts immediately after he finished college. Inspired by his high school classmates Shelly Johnson, Brunson decided to pursue a career in fighting.

In May 2010, Derek Brunson made his professional MMA debut in a fight against John Bryant. In under one minute, he won by a rear-naked choke. He also won his next five fights, which did not make it past 2:30 of the first round.

On December 29, 2012, Brunson made his UFC debut, replacing an injured Karlos Vemola against Chris Leben at UFC 155. He utilized his superior wrestling to defeat Leben despite being a late replacement and heavy underdog.  He won the fight via unanimous decision.

Age

Derek Brunson was born on January 4, 1984, in Wilmington, North Carolina, United States. He celebrated his 39th birthday on January 4, 2023.

Wife

Derek Brunson is a happily married man. He is married to Kayla Monk. The UFC star has kept his private life away from the public. At first, fans did not believe he was married because of how much he maintained privacy. To clear all doubt, he shared photos from his wedding day on social media. He posted the photos on April 12, 2021, and captioned them “Boyz II Men.” Like Brunson, his wife Kayla also keeps her marriage away from the public. We learned that she got off social media. The couple has three children together, two daughters and a son. He often talks about how proud he is of his kids. He says his children are his driving factor.

Fight for the right things in life . My children are my driving factor . What are yours ❤️!? #HappyFathersDay pic.twitter.com/epav94SgeR

— Derek Brunson (@DerekBrunson) June 22, 2020

Net Worth

According to Celebrity Net Worth, the mixed martial artist has a net worth of $500 thousand. His primary source of income is Mixed Martial Arts and fighting in the UFC.

Height

Derek Brunson is 6 ft 1 inch tall (185 cm).

Record (23-9-0)

Total Matches	32
Wins	23
Wins by knockout	12
Wins by submission	4
Wins by decision	7
Total Losses	9
Losses by knockout	7
Losses by decision	2

UFC Ranking

As of March 4, 2023, Derek Brunson is #8 in the UFC middleweight rankings.