Kevin Holland fights Derek Brunson this weekend at a UFC Fight Night card at UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Holland will look to build on his 5-fight winning streak with a victory over a veteran in Brunson. Despite having a tough fight in hand, ‘Trailblazer’ is already looking ahead to a potential future match-up.

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Holland is eyeing a potential future fight against former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker next. Whittaker was temporarily not booked for a fight after his proposed opponent Paulo Costa pulled out of the April 17 card. However, ‘The Reaper’ has since been booked to face Kelvin Gastelum on the due date.

Whittaker and Gastelum were booked before for a showdown at UFC 234, with UFC gold on the line. However, Whittaker’s withdrawal from the bout due to illness meant the fight had to be called off. Nevertheless, fans will have the chance to see both fighters clash ultimately.

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Holland, on the other hand, has been on a roll recently in the middleweight division of the UFC. He had an outstanding 2020, as ‘Trailblazer’ racked up five consecutive wins in only seven months. His most recent knockout of Ronaldo Souza, at UFC 256, was spectacular. Holland managed to finish the veteran ‘Jacare’ from the bottom position.

LOS ANGELES, CA – AUGUST 04: Kevin Holland prepares to fight Thiago Santos of Brazil in their middleweight fight during the UFC 227 event inside Staples Center on August 4, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

However, Holland has implied in his recent Instagram story that ‘Stylebender‘ doesn’t want to fight Whittaker again. But that claim might be over the top considering the fact Adesanya knocked out ‘Bobby Knuckles‘ at UFC 256 to become the undisputed middleweight champion.

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Is Kevin Holland vs Robert Whittaker the fight to make next?

Whittaker deserves a rematch for the belt against Adesanya if he gets past Gastelum next month. But if he doesn’t get that fight, he will look to match himself up against a top contender. Holland certainly fits the bill for that. But ‘Trailblazer’ has a tough opponent in Brunson ahead of him.

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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – DECEMBER 12: (R-L) Kevin Holland punches Jacare Souza of Brazil in their middleweight bout during the UFC 256 event at UFC APEX on December 12, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

There are certainly a lot of factors involving the fight. However, given the current landscape of the division, it is certain to happen at some point in either man’s career. Whether it will be the next contest or not remains to be seen.

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Apratim Banerjee

1,260 Articles

Apratim Banerjee is a senior UFC author for EssentiallySports and has been writing professionally for almost a year. Before his current gig, Apratim worked as a UFC writer for Sportskeeda. A long-time MMA fan, Apratim has developed a critical eye for the sport that has helped him transfer his vast knowledge to his copies and give hardcore and casual readers a detailed insight into the fights and fighters. Dan Henderson’s brutal knockout against Michael Bisping at UFC 100 in 2009 is one of his earliest memories of the sport. He has never missed a UFC PPV or a Fight Night since, which speaks volumes about his wealth of MMA knowledge. Israel Adesanya, Jon Jones, Stipe Miocic, Conor McGregor are some of his favorite fighters. Apart from this, Apratim plays soccer in his free time and loves scoring long-distance goals.

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