Jacare Souza's touching gesture to Kevin Holland's grandfather after UFC 256 fight

UFC middleweight Ronaldo 'Jacare' Souza gave Kevin Holland his fight gloves as a gift to his grandfather after their UFC 256 scrap. Holland would end up finishing 'Jacare' in the very first round in the fight.

Holland revealed in an interview with Ariel Helwani that his grandfather is a big fan of the grappling legend that is Souza.

"In the back when I was walking out and he was in the medical room, he asked me to come in there. When I went in, he gave me the gloves, 'Give it your grandfather, he's a big fan of mine right?', he said. I said 'Yes sir.' We are all big fan of his," he said.

"He [Jacare] saw me talking about my grandfather being a huge fan in interviews, I told him when we were in the cage after the fight. I got emotional for a second, thinking 'You know it's Jacare'."

Is Jacare Souza headed for retirement after Kevin Holland loss?

The gesture of gifting his gloves to Kevin Holland's grandfather is the stuff the fight fans live for. Souza is a former Strikeforce champion who has been a contender in the Middleweight division since 2013.

Kevin Holland elbows Jacare Souza of Brazil in their middleweight bout

However, now 41-years-old, he might be at the end of his career. The jiu-jitsu wizard has lost his last three fights in the UFC.

Souza tried going up a division and, given his notoriety, was welcomed by current champion Jan Błachowicz. The Brazilian went five rounds with the Polish fighter in a losing cause.

It’s an all red kinda day. Autographed #UFC gloves. Who wants em?! Must follow- @BoomCityBreaks pic.twitter.com/VcaLmcHFDX

— Kevin Holland (@Trailblaze2top) December 17, 2020

However, in the most recent fight, he was outclassed by an ingenious piece of innovation by Kevin Holland. After getting taken down early in the fight, the American didn't allow his opponent to get comfortable in his guard and kept throwing elbows and hammer fists from bottom position.

Eventually, he caught Souza with a ridiculous slingshot punch from the bottom which staggered the Brazilian. Holland then ended the fight with a barrage of punches.

What a year for @Trailblaze2top.5-0 in 7 months, and it ends with an incredible win over Jacare.His 2021 goal isn’t the 185 belt, it’s 6-0. And he wants it to start with @DerekBrunson. He explains why here.Enjoy: https://t.co/OQYUOC0L09

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) December 16, 2020

The win sealed Holland's fifth of the year. The Middleweight increasingly looks like he will get a top 10 fighter for his next bout. A smooth-talker inside and outside the cage, Holland called out Derek Brunson for his next fight.

"I want to beat Derek Brunson because I don’t like the way he strikes. It just looks awkward. It’s like a disrespect to striking. It’s sad that he’s knocked out strikers before with that weird striking," he said.

Kevin Holland has already had a couple of run-ins with Champion Israel Adesanya, but needs to do more to get a shot at the Kiwi.