UFC fight night: Brunson vs. Holland - Overview
After an incredible 2020, Kevin Holland (21-5) looks to cash in on his record tying calendar year with five wins in five fights. He takes on longtime contender Derek Brunson (21-7) who’s coming off a dominant 3rd round finish of undefeated middleweight, Edmen Shahbazyan.
Holland lived up to his nickname “trailblazer” in a year that saw him take five wins in just seven months (may 16th-Dec 12th) with four of those coming by way of finish, three in the 1st round. Holland capped off his run with a jaw dropping finish of Ronaldo Souza at UFC 256 where he threw hammer fists from knee-shield half gurad that knocked Souza clean out.
whats impressive is the amount of force required to generate a KO, whats even more impressive is the multitude of positional disadvantages Holland was facing to generate a KO from that position. This is why we don’t see these rare positional knockouts because you just can’t produce the force and leverage required for a KO. With a staggering 81 inch reach, Holland figured out how to make the improbable, probable.
Brunson comes in on a three fight win streak which seen him recently finish former undefeated prospect Edmen Shahbazyan. Brunsons last loss comes against current middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, since then Brunson has beaten contender after contender in a bid to even the count against the champ.
Tai Tuvasa returns after his late 1st round finish of Stefan Struve, taking on Don’Tale Mayes in a heavyweight clash. Gregor Gillespie returns from his KO loss to Kevin Lee against kiwi and City Kickboxing’s own, Brad Riddell. Riddell is on a six fight win streak - three in the UFC. Undefeated Roman Dolidze puts his record on the line against the biggest problem of his career in Trevin GIles for a fantastic card.
All in all the card has promise should it hold together, its a prospect shakeup for alot of divisions that will progress them forward, especially at a stagnant middleweight that sees #7 take on #10. After the fallout of Costa against Whittaker the only higher ranked matchup at middleweight is Vettori vs. TIll on April 10th. Should the champion not see anything interesting in that fight, he may want to consider the winner of Brunson/Holland.
The card goes as follows:
Main Card
Derek Brunson vs. Kevin Holland
Gregor Gillespie vs. Brad Riddell
Tai Tuvasa vs. Don’Tale Mayes
Adrian Yanez vs. Gustavo Lopes
Max Griffin vs. Kenan Song
Cheyanne Buys vs. Montserrat Ruiz
Prelims
Marion Reneau vs. Macy Chiasson
Grant Dawson vs. Leonardo Santos
Trevin Giles vs. Roman Dolidze
Montel Jackson vs. Jesse Strader
Julia Avila vs. Julija Stoliarenko
JP Buys vs. Bruno Silva
