UFC president Dana White dubbed Kevin Holland Big Mouth after his DWCS debut, and it was on full, disconcerting display at UFC on ESPN 21 on Saturday. Holland talked at length with opponent Derek Brunson, who replied not with words but with wrestling and top control, winning a very Unanimous Decision. Holland even implored lightweight GOAT Khabib Nurmagomedov, who was seated cageside, to offer some advice in between rounds.
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The banter kept up even after the fight, with Brunson trying to walk away from the awkwardness.
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White was not impressed.
I think that was a mental breakdown, said White post-fight to Kevin Iole for Yahoo Sports. The only other thing I saw like it was 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.”
He wasn’t b****ing about anything; He thought everybody in here was his friend and he was just out having some fun.”
At the post-fight press conference, Brunson addressed the antics, and the fight.
That’s what Kevin Holland do, said Brunson, as transcribed by Damon Martin for MMA Fighting. He talked the whole time.
Dana White’s one of these guys, he’ll be upset with you, I’ll come out the next fight and knock a guy out and he’ll be happy again. It’s all good. I went [against Edmen] Shahbazyan and finished the kid last fight and I didn’t get a bonus for that fight. Main event. Finished him. Nobody was too pleased with that. So it is what it is. I come out here to fight. Every fight can’t be pretty but I’ve been here for a long time. This division was kind of built on my back. Me with these crazy fights so it is what it is.
He just couldn’t stop the takedowns. It’s funny. He kept presenting his hips. He’s a guy who’s very explosive, likes to run in but he’s long so he kind of gets away with it at times. So he kept presenting his hips, and he was there for the taking down.”
Holland addressed the criticism post-fight on his social network.
Aw f*** we’re a little beat up, but never gonna stop talking, he said on Instagram. If you guys don’t f***ing like it, deuces.”
“I’m gonna be me tell I die,” he wrote in the caption. “Never said I wanted to be the champ I said I wanted to have a good time and that I did on to the next.”
UG, what did you think of the chatter, and what did you think of the fight?
