David Branch News

Tom Taylor - October 21, 2018

Former World Series of Fighting middleweight and light heavyweight champ David Branch campaigned long and hard for a fight with former Strikeforce middleweight champion Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza. While Souza didn’t initially take the bait, the Brazilian grappling ace ultimately agreed to meet Branch in the cage at UFC 230 on November 3 in New York. At long last, David Branch had received the opportunity he’d been chasing. Unfortunately for him, this UFC 230 scrap with Jacare was not meant to be. Just weeks ahead of the event, Luke Rockhold was forced out of his co-main event rematch with Chris Weidman. Jacare was then summoned from his bout with Branch and assigned as Weidman’s new opponent. Branch, who is riding high on an impressive KO of Thiago Santos, was then given a new opponent in former light heavyweight and heavyweight Jared Cannonier.

Chris Taylor - October 20, 2018

After two co-main event changes in the past ten days, David Branch will now fight “The Killa Gorilla” Jared Cannonier at UFC 230. ESPN’s Brett Okamoto was first to report the news.

Drake Riggs - July 20, 2018

After struggling to find an agreeable date to fight on, it appears that Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza and David Branch have found their common ground. ESPN has reported that the two top 10 middleweight contenders have now agreed to fight at UFC 230 in Madison Square Garden on November 3rd.

Tom Taylor - July 4, 2018

Over the last few weeks, former two division World Series of Fighting champion David Branch has been chasing a fight with former Strikeforce middleweight champ Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza. Branch’s first callout of Jacare was short and sweet, and simply stated that he’d signed a contract to fight the Brazilian. Yo JACARE I’m ready and I’ve signed what you waiting for @JacareMMA @danawhite @Mickmaynard2 @AliAbdelaziz00 🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷

Drake Riggs - June 19, 2018

After an ultra-impressive first round knockout victory over Thiago Santos in April, former WSOF double champ, David Branch has his sights set on another big fight. Specifically in the crosshairs of Branch is the perennial top 5 middleweight contender, Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza.

Tom Taylor - June 8, 2018

From the sounds of it, there could be a big middleweight fight announcement coming in the very near future. Former two-division World Series of Fighting champion David Branch says he’s signed a contract to fight former Strikeforce middleweight champion Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, and he is urging the Brazilian to put pen to paper himself. Yo JACARE I’m ready and I’ve signed what you waiting for @JacareMMA @danawhite @Mickmaynard2 @AliAbdelaziz00 🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷

Chris Taylor - April 21, 2018

UFC Atlantic City Results: David Branch KO’s Thiago Santos A middleweight tilt between perennial division contenders David Branch and Thiago Santos took place on tonight’s UFC Fight Night 128 main card from Atlantic City.

Justin Golightly - January 13, 2018

Damn…. @aliabdelaziz000 @ufc @mickmaynard2 @danawhite I wish Yoel and Lucas the best, speedy recovery champ. 😔 A post shared by David Branch (@davidbranch32) on Jan 13, 2018 at 4:33am PST

Justin Golightly - December 19, 2017

We haven’t seen Yoel Romero since his decision loss to Robert Whittaker back in July. Up until then, the middleweight monster was on an eight-fight win streak with huge wins over Lyoto Machida, Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza, and Chris Weidman. Since then though, all he’s wanted is a fight. With anybody. However, it looks like he’s tried unsuccessfully with both Luke Rockhold and former champ Michael Bisping. Finally, the clouds have broken up and it looks like he could have a fight for the UFC Orlando card: Former WSOF two-division champion David Branch. Yesssss lets do it!!! @Mickmaynard2 https://t.co/oKOCIQZD4v

Tom Taylor - September 17, 2017

Last night, the UFC returned to our screens with an exciting night of fights from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In the main event of the evening, former two-division World Series of Fighting champ David Branch faced arguably the starkest test of his career in former Strikeforce and UFC middleweight king Luke Rockhold. Though Branch started strong in this fight, Rockhold turned up the heat in the second round, grounding his foe, flattening him out, and pouring on the ground-and-pound. Shortly thereafter, Branch opted to tap out to the onslaught of strikes he was receiving– something we don’t see very often in MMA.

Chris Taylor - September 16, 2017

A key middleweight scrap between former title holder Luke Rockhold and perennial contender David Branch headlined tonight’s UFC Fight Night 116 card in Pittsburgh. Round one begins and Branch starts off quickly with a combination. Rockhold fires off a kick to the body followed by a low kick. Branch presses forward and pushes Luke against the cage. The fighters engage in the clinch and then break. Branch storms after Rockhold with a flurry of punches. He is connecting. Rockhold is in trouble but manages to clinch up. Branch with a takedown but Luke is able to stand back up. The fighters clinch again and Rockhold lands a knee. Branch fires off a knee of his own. They break and Rockhold lands an inside leg kick. Branch charges forward and lands a right hand. He presses Luke back against the cage and works some shots to the body. Rockhold switches the position and unloads a knee. The fighters break and Branch goes to the body with a jab. Rockhold with a low kick. Rockhold appears to poke Branch in the eye. David charges forward and lands a right. Luke grabs a hold of the former World Series of Fighting champion and drags him to the floor. Ten seconds remain. Round one comes to an end with Rockhold on top.

Justin Golightly - September 12, 2017

Creeping up on us after the last minute switch-out of UFC 215, UFC Pittsburgh is a sleeper card with some guaranteed killer fights. Headlining the card is former middleweight champion Luke Rockhold fighting David Branch. The welcome wagon continues for Branch, after getting a win over over Krzysztof Jotko at UFC 211. It was the first time since 2011 that Branch fought in the UFC, meanwhile he was off in World Series of Fighting becoming a two-division champion, holding both the middleweight and light heavyweight titles. He brought more than just his experience becoming a “champ champ” back into the UFC with him, wasting no time showing everyone what kind of attitude he brings into fights. “[Luke Rockhold]’s going to try and come out to establish his dominance. He’s going to try and run his alpha male sh-t on me and I’m going to shut that sh-t down, obviously. I think that in that fight against [Michael] Bisping the motherf-cker slipped up. You can’t go out there and take anybody lightly. That’s the thing with me, I come from a different background than Luke, and I don’t have that kind of indoctrination that he does. I come from the f-cking streets and I don’t take anybody lightly.”

Chris Taylor - May 13, 2017

UFC 211 Results: David Branch vs. Krzysztof Jotko A middleweight scrap between David Branch and Krzysztof Jotko kicked off tonight’s UFC 211 pay-per-view card in Dallas, Texas.

Tom Taylor - March 8, 2017

UFC 211, which will occur on May 13 in Dallas, Texas, is already absolutely stacked. The card will be headlined by a heavyweight title fight between champ Stipe Miocic and challenger Junior Dos Santos, and co-headlined by a strawweight title fight between champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk and challenger Jessica Andrade. Elsewhere on the lineup, we’ll witness a welterweight showdown between top contenders Demian Maia and Jorge Masvidal, and a lightweight bout between former champ Eddie Alvarez and dangerous contender Dustin Poirier. While the card unfortunately lost a heavyweight fight between Fabricio Werdum and Ben Rothwell when Rothwell was notified of a potential USADA violation, it still looks like an epic one  – and it’s only getting better.

Tom Taylor - February 15, 2017

Earlier this month, we learned that World Series of Fighting star David Branch had entered free agency. Branch, who was the champion of both the WSOF light heavyweight and middleweight divisions, made this announcement on a recent episode of The MMA Hour. “I’m officially a free agent,” he said on the show. “I’m going to be looking to explore my opportunities on the outside of WSOF. And I think it was about time for me and the company to just split ways. There was some misunderstandings that happened, and as a result of those misunderstandings it was best for me to be released and stuff like that. Plus I just want to do other things.”

Tom Taylor - February 7, 2017

Having completed the last fight of his latest contract with World Series of Fighting, David Branch is now a free agent. Branch, who held both the promotion’s middleweight and light heavyweight titles, confirmed his free agency on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour. “I’m definitely a free agent now, I’m officially a free agent,” he said on the show. “I’m going to be looking to explore my opportunities on the outside of WSOF. And I think it was about time for me and the company to just split ways. There was some misunderstandings that happened, and as a result of those misunderstandings it was best for me to be released and stuff like that. Plus I just want to do other things.”