Kevin Holland has responded to those who criticised his talking during the UFC Vegas 22 main event.
The middleweight contender went into his bout against Derek Brunson with a lot of momentum. From viral clips of his mid-fight trash talk to his 5-0 record in 2020, ‘Big Mouth’ had a lot going for him.
Unfortunately, instead of shining bright, he was beaten pretty decisively by Brunson.
Not changing for anyone
While many fans understand Brunson shouldn’t have been underestimated, it also never really looked like Holland was particularly invested in the fight, even engaging with Khabib Nurmagomedov at cage side in between rounds.
On Instagram after the bout, Holland was initially quite defensive about the whole situation.
“Never going to stop talking,” Holland said. “If you guys don’t f***ing like it, deuces. I’m gonna be me till I die 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.”
Then, in a follow-up, he changed his tune ever so slightly.
“Yes I will talk yes I will have fun but winning is a s*** load of fun as well,” said Holland. “I definitely hate letting you guys down so fighting smarter improving position and avoiding being taken down I’ll get back to work within the week.”
As Brunson continues to climb the 185-pound rankings, nobody really knows what’ll come next for Kevin Holland. He could get right back to work at middleweight or, alternatively, he could shift down to welterweight.
Both options are pretty feasible for a guy who is only 28 and arguably hasn’t even hit his ceiling yet.
The MMA game is crazy and unpredictable, so it’d be pretty foolish to write him off after one weird defeat.
Featured image credit: Getty