UFC president Dana White was perplexed by Kevin Holland's performance against Derek Brunson this past weekend.
Holland suffered a one-sided loss in the UFC Fight Night main event as Brunson landed takedowns and controlled him in all five rounds. The middleweight up-and-comer appeared to spend much of the fight talking to his opponent - which isn't new for him - rather than trying to beat Brunson. He was also seen asking former UFC star Khabib Nurmagomedov, who was cage-side for the contest, for advice between rounds.
"I think that was a mental breakdown. ... I don't know what (Holland) was doing," White told Yahoo Sports' Kevin Iole after the bout. "I think he might not have been able to handle the pressure and just broke mentally. I haven't seen anything like that."
White got up and left his cage-side seat during the fifth round of the main event. Holland's five-fight winning streak came to an end after he had a breakout campaign in 2020.
"He thought everybody in here was his friend, and he was just out having some fun," White said of the 28-year-old's bizarre loss.
Brunson, the No. 7-ranked contender, extended his winning streak to four with the victory.
