When Kevin
Holland debuted in the UFC, Dana White dubbed him “Big Mouth”
due to his talkative nature in the Octagon.
Holland emerged as a serious prospect after losing his debut to
Thiago
Santos, as he won eight of his next nine bouts within the Las
Vegas-based promotion. However, with a serious opportunity in front
of him, Holland seemed more interested in talking than he did in
fighting, and the result was a lackluster decision loss to Derek
Brunson in the
UFC on ESPN 21 headliner on Saturday night in Las Vegas.
All too often, Holland seemed content to talk to Brunson from his
back after being taken down. Although he had some positive moments
on the feet and become the first person to take Brunson down in UFC
competition, it wasn’t nearly enough to sway the scorecards in his
favor.
White thinks there may have been something more serious going on
with Holland.
“I think that was a mental breakdown,” the UFC president told
Yahoo Sports. “The only other thing I saw like it was [in
boxing] 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.”
When Holland wasn’t conversing with Brunson, he was yelling to
White and retired former lightweight king Khabib
Nurmagomedov, who were seated cageside. Though Holland slipped
on the mat during the main event, White said the fighter wasn’t
complaining about anything during their interactions.
“He wasn’t b—-ing about anything,” White said. “He thought
everybody in here was his friend and he was just out having some
fun.”