UFC President Dana White was perplexed by Kevin Holland at the UFC main event at ESPN 21.
Derek Brunson (22-7 MMA, 13-5 UFC) defeated Holland (21-6 MMA, 7-3 UFC) in his streak of wins in five fights in a unanimous decision at the head of the middleweight division. Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. .
Although Holland entered the fight well known for his conversations in the cage and his boisterous acts, he took him to a new level in the fight with Brunson. He was speaking from the moment the fight began, and even claimed a conversation with the whites and former UFC champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, who were next to the cage.
White believes Holland’s vocal level while he was being eliminated and losing rounds against Brunson was triggered by breaking under stage pressure.
“I think it was a mental break,” he told Yahoo! UFC President Dana White. Sports. “It simply came to our notice then [in boxing] when Lennox Lewis fought this boy [Oliver McCall] who had his hands by his side and was crying. I don’t know what he was doing. I think maybe I wouldn’t have been able to withstand the pressure and it just broke mentally. I haven’t seen anything like it. “
White wasn’t the only one who thought about Holland’s traps. Some fighters entered social media as the fight began and while some were entertaining, others were critical.
Holland told the UFC program at ESPN 21 after the fight he was considering relegation to the welterweight division after his first loss since October 2019.