Middleweight contender Kevin Holland entered UFC Vegas 22 headliner with a lot of hype behind him. “Trailblazer” a.k.a. “Big Mouth” won all of his five fights in 2020, most recently against respected veteran Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza.
But that version of Holland seemed to be absent on Saturday against Derek Brunson. While he did have his moments early on, it was Brunson who led the dance with the wrestling to win by unanimous decision.
Even UFC president Dana White was left disappointed by what he saw. Here’s what he told Yahoo! Sports’ Kevin Iole:
I think that was a mental breakdown. The only other thing I saw like it was [in boxing] when Lennox Lewis fought that guy [Oliver McCall] who kept his hands at his side and was crying. I don’t know what he was doing. I think he might not have been able to handle the pressure and just broke mentally. I haven’t seen anything like that.
With the win over Holland, Brunson extends his win streak to four. He now wants Paulo Costa next.
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