Derek Brunson disagrees with Dana White’s suggestion that Kevin Holland had a “mental breakdown” at UFC Vegas 22

UFC middleweight Derek Brunson disagreed with Dana White’s suggestion that Kevin Holland had a “mental breakdown” at UFC Vegas 22.

Brunson dominated Holland with his grappling in the main event of this past Saturday’s UFC Vegas 22 event. The 37-year-old Strikeforce veteran was able to take Holland down at will and control him on the mat en route to a unanimous decision victory. But while Brunson had a solid performance, Holland is the fighter everyone is talking about, and not for good reasons. The 28-year-old Texan is known for talking during his fights, but he took it to a whole new level against Brunson, as he wouldn’t stop talking for the full 25 minutes.

We’ve seen Holland talk before, but generally, he’s won those fights. Not this time, however. Not only did Holland lose the fight, but he kept talking the entire time and didn’t seem focused. It led to White later saying that Holland suffered a “mental breakdown” during their fight. Brunson, however, disagrees. Speaking to reporters following UFC Vegas 22, Brunson said that his wrestling was the reason he won the fight, not Holland’s mouth.

“No, he just couldn’t stop the takedowns. It’s funny. He kept presenting his hips. He’s a guy who’s very explosive, likes to run in but he’s long so he kind of gets away with it at times. So he kept presenting his hips, and he was there for the taking down,” Brunson said (via MMAFighting.com). “Dana White’s one of these guys, he’ll be upset with you, I’ll come out the next fight and knock a guy out and he’ll be happy again. It’s all good. I went against (Edmen) Shahbazyan and finished the kid last fight and I didn’t get a bonus for that fight. Main event. Finished him. Nobody was too pleased with that. So it is what it is. I come out here to fight. Every fight can’t be pretty but I’ve been here for a long time. This division was kind of built on my back. Me with these crazy fights so it is what it is.”

Do you agree with Dana White that Kevin Holland had a mental breakdown, or do you think Derek Brunson is right and that he didn’t?