Derek Brunson stopped Kevin Holland’s fantastic streak preventing him from setting the new UFC records in consecutive wins during one year.
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The 37-year old veteran defeated Holland via unanimous decision last night and improved his chances to meet one of the big dogs of the UFC middleweight division. Brunson used his advantage on the canvas, wrestling out the young rising star who didn’t have an idea on how to defend from the takedowns, and more importantly, wasn’t able to resist once being on his back.
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In each round, Brunson managed to take the rival down on the ground and control the situation while collecting points.
Though, we need to say that Brunson had luck in the opening phase of the event, with Holland slipping after an initiative at the start, giving a chance for the rival to take him down.
In the second round, Holland had his chance to win, landing a couple of tough punches on his rival, who wobbled and was on the edge of losing the match but managed to survive somehow. He went for a takedown, managed to get one, and successfully kept that position until the end of the round.
The next three rounds were the same. Brunson would get his takedowns, Holland wouldn’t have the solution on how to defend, and the older fighter scored points, controlled the match while his rival constantly talked. It was the only thing in which Holland had the advantage in this event. He was always communicating, regardless of his position, but unfortunately, that didn’t affect Brunson.
In the end, the judges scored 49-45, 49-46, and 49-46 for Brunson, who now has four consecutive victories. In the last three, he was an underdog, yet went against the odds. His victims besides Holland were Elias Theodorou, Ian Heinisch, and Edmen Shahbazyan, whom he knocked out. His previous loss was at the UFC 230 against Israel Adesanya, and surprisingly, Izzy is not Brunson’s next target, but Paulo Costa.
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-->As for Holland, he needs to get back to the mat and improve his wrestling, or at least his takedown defense, because he can’t win a title or endanger more experienced and ranked opponents with the current quality. On top of everything, it was obvious that he lacks physical power and that Brunson easily handled matters once getting his hands on the TrailBlazer, as the fans call Holland.
