Kevin Holland blasted Jacare Souza's face until he was unconscious ... and now the UFC star says he's coming for Israel Adesanya and all the top middleweight fighters ... starting with Derek Brunson.
TMZ Sports talked to the 28-year-old fighter after his 5th (yes, 5th!!) UFC win of 2020, and the 6'3", 185 lb. striker tells us there's no time for R&R ... he wants to get right back in the Octagon, ASAP, with #7 ranked Brunson.
“I know a lot of people don’t know the name, but Derek Brunson. That's who I want to smack,” Holland tells us.
Kevin Holland secures win number 5️⃣ of 2020! 🤯
— UFC on BT Sport (@btsportufc) December 13, 2020
✅ May 16 Anthony Hernandez
✅ Aug. 8 Joaquin Buckley
✅ Sept. 19 Darren Stewart
✅ Oct. 31 Charlie Ontiveros
✅ Dec. 12 Jacare Souza
Take a bow, @Trailblaze2top 👏#UFC256 pic.twitter.com/2cCMfJsysf
Why the beef??
"[Derek] said something about slamming me on my head 1 time. I was like, 'Oh, okay. That's how you think we play.' That may be how you play with other wrestlers, but I’m a striker. Know what I mean?," Holland says.
"You think you’re gonna slam me on my head, that’s alright. I think I'm gonna punch you in the head a couple times. I can take a slam. He can’t really take too many punches.”
FYI, Brunson is on a 3-fight win streak ... and recently handed up-and-coming star Edmen Shahbazyan his first loss.
Holland tells us his plan is to beat Brunson, then take out ALL the high-ranked guys in the division ... before ultimately snatching Adesanya's belt.
“So, if I beat Derek Brunson, I’d be number 6. Then I gotta go through 5, 4, 3, 2, champ. Then that’s 6 fights in a year. That’s a good year. Then no one can say [I] didn’t fight tough competition.”
We also asked Holland about 26-year-old phenom, Khamzat Chimaev ... who Kevin called out after beating Souza at UFC 256 on Saturday.
Future super fight?? Listening to Holland, it sounds like only a matter of time before these guys scrap.