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Kevin Holland has made an angry statement directed at his next opponent, Derek Brunson. "Trailblazer" also revealed a bet the duo have involving a takedown for the fight.
The two UFC middleweight contenders have been trading barbs over social media since Brunson invited Kevin Holland to help him prepare for his bout against Israel Adesanya at UFC 230.
However, the invitation was badly received by "Trailblazer" since Brunson threatened him by saying that "he would slam Kevin Holland on the head if he ever tried something like what he did against Anthony Hernandez."
In the latest installment of their dispute, Kevin Holland wrote a statement directed at Brunson to his Instagram stories. In the text, "Trailblazer" criticizes his future opponent for leaving his old gym.
"Uncrowned king more like an uncrowned queen. You b*tch too much, and instead of bringing great staff to your own gym, you fled to another gym. You have no castle, Derek Brunson. Work your *ss off, my boy, because I want to party hard on March 20th."
Kevin Holland also revealed a bet between the two regarding a takedown during their fight. Apparently, whoever lands it first will be declared the winner.
"And, yeah, let's make that 20k bet a 10k bet on each side to charity if either one of us lands that taken down we both pay."
The origins of Kevin Holland and Derek Brunson's private beef
Exchanging verbal attacks and provocations over social media since the sparring conflict, Kevin Holland made a call-out to Derek Brunson after his win over Ronaldo Souza at UFC 256.
He then later gave a peculiar explanation on why he did not like Brunson:
"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 is sad that he has knocked out strikers before with that weird striking," Kevin Holland said.
Brunson accepted the challenge without hesitation, and the UFC confirmed the bout for March 20 at UFC Fight Night 188. The fight will be Kevin Holland's first performance in 2021.
He plans to break his own record set in 2020 when he won five fights in the same year.
"If Derek Brunson is number seven, I beat Derek Brunson; I'm number seven. Then I beat up number six; I'm number six. Then I beat up number five; I'm number five. I do that all the way to the second contender, that's six fights in a year," concluded Holland. "That's the six fights that I asked for. I'm shooting for six fights next year, not a chain, not a bill, you know? It's like let's break a record one record at a time. We did five fights in seven months. Six fights in 12 months is very possible."
