LAS VEGAS – Derek Brunson cannot agree with Dana White’s “mental breakdown” analysis of Kevin Holland in the UFC at ESPN 21 main event.
After Brunson (22-7 MMA, 13-5 UFC) extended his winning streak to four consecutive fights by unanimous decision, he won the Netherlands (21-6 MMA, 7-3 UFC) in Saturday’s middleweight headliner at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, the UFC president expressed confusion over the loser’s performance and the bin in the cage.
White said he thought Holland was mentally breaking because of the magnitude of the moment, and the result was a level of talk and antics that was unusual, even for ‘Big Mouth’.
Brunson said he disagreed. Instead, he points to his tremendous advantage in wrestling as the difference maker in the octagon.
“He just couldn’t stop the takedown,” Brunson told reporters, including MMA Junkie, after the fight at UFC On ESPN 21. “It’s funny that he kept giving me his hips, you know? is very explosive to run in, but it’s tall so he can get away with it sometimes. He kept presenting his hips and he was there for the breakdown. Dana White is one of those guys. He’ll be mad at you I’ll get out of the next fight and knock a guy out and he’ll be happy again. So it’s all good. “
Brunson said nothing about the fight with Holland that really surprised him. But he doesn’t think it was a wise move. He knew his opponent would be vocal to some degree, and while his original plan was to respond, he changed course as he watched the fight unfold.
“Come on, man, you have to do better than that,” Brunson said. ‘That was pretty stupid. Work on getting out of positions. You talk all the time. I wanted to talk to him during the fight, but I thought, ‘This man is stupid. He’s dumb. He’s just laying here talking and not improving his position, so I’ll just let him. ‘I didn’t want to break his rhythm. Just let him keep doing his thing.
‘I think he will learn from this. He needs to be a little more focused on the fight. He was in shape, I was in shape. He wanted to entertain between rounds, but this is the fighting game. It’s good to have fun, but you should probably be a bit more focused on the fight as I was looking for my moments to really beat him well and get him out. “
Brunson’s UFC-winning streak of four fights now has him right with Marvin Vettori for second-longest among active middleweights behind champion Israel Adesanya (nine). He said he is looking for a big fight, possibly with former title challenger Paulo Costa.
The veteran, who was the gambling underdog to the Netherlands who came in, said he wished he could have made the win more emphatic, but he is glad he raised his hand against a name that had a lot of hype around it.
“To go out and take the win, shut up, it feels good,” Brunson said. “I was a bit angry that I didn’t make it to the finish. I thought my ground and pound would do it. He was pretty cunning on the bottom, holding my hands, holding my wrists and things like that. We have the win. On to the next.”