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#4 Derek Brunson vs Kevin Holland - UFC Vegas 22
After being submitted by Brendan Allen in October 2019, Kevin Holland rebounded in stellar fashion by amassing five wins in the next calendar year. 'The Trailblazer' had finishes against Anthony Hernandez, Joaquin Buckley, Charlie Ontiveros and Ronaldo 'Jacare' Souza, apart from a split-decision win over Darren Stewart.
Holland entered his first UFC main event, against Derek Brunson in March 2021, as a massive favorite. But the exciting striker saw himself dominated on the ground for most of the fight, which Brunson won via unanimous decision. The 28-year-old's takedown defense and wrestling proficiency were woefully exposed - a template Marvin Vettori used to beat him just one month later on short notice.
Holland appears to be working on plugging the holes in his game and will be seen in action later this year against Kyle Daukaus.
#3 Beneil Dariush vs Tony Ferguson - UFC 262
Although Tony Ferguson entered his fight against Beneil Dariush on a two-fight losing streak and the betting underdog, the manner in which he lost to the Iranian makes it one of the biggest UFC upsets of 2021 so far.
Fighting at UFC 262, the same pay-per-view event which hosted the UFC lightweight championship bout between Charles Oliveira and Michael Chander, Ferguson was thoroughly dominated by a skilled grappling display from Dariush. Oliveira had exposed certain flaws in Ferguson's game in December 2020, but few thought Dariush would be able to overwhelm 'El Cucuy' on the canvas.
But that's just what happened as Ferguson had no answers from bottom position and landed barely any strikes over the course of the three-round fight. The 37-year-old suffered his third loss on the trot as Dariush extended his winning streak to seven. Surprisingly, the two men are only three places apart in the current UFC lightweight rankings.
