Kevin Holland Considering Drop to 170 Pounds After UFC on ESPN 8 Triumph

HE ONLY NEEDED SECONDS!

Take a bow, @Trailblaze2top!

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Kevin Holland first appeared on the radar of MMA fans at UFC 227, when he accepted a short-notice fight with Thiago Santos for his Octagon debut.

Though he didn’t win, the fighter dubbed “Big Mouth” by UFC president Dana White made a lasting impression by giving a game effort against an opponent who would go on to give Jon Jones a run for his money at light heavyweight.

A little less than two years later, the Forth Worth, Texas, native may have finally had his breakthrough performance in the Las Vegas-based promotion. Holland won four the fourth time in five outings against Anthony Hernandez at UFC on ESPN 8 on Saturday, but it was the manner in which he dispatched his fellow Contender Series alum that was most impressive.

Holland initially rocked Hernandez with an elbow and followed up with a knee to the midsection that send his opponent to the canvas. A barrage of follow-up punches brought an end to the contest just 39 seconds after it began.

“We’ve been working elbows for a while, so being able to throw that elbow and then instantly hit the body shot with the knee, my muay Thai is definitely going up,” Holland said after the fight.

More importantly, Holland was able to rebound from a submission loss to Brendan Allen at UFC on ESPN 6 this past October.

“[It] feels like this is what I’ve been waiting to do since I made it to the UFC. Now I have my second finish, I guess it took me to get finished to open up my eyes and see what I need to do in here,” he said. “I’m beyond happy. I worked on my diet, I start working with a meal company and starting eating properly. I got back to the bread and butter, training hard, practicing my forms again like old school Kung Fu. I’m staying true to martial arts.”

Despite that success, Holland is contemplating a drop in weight for his next Octagon appearance. “Trailblazer” competed very early in his MMA career and also won a championship as an amateur at 170 pounds.

“I really want to drop to 170 and I want to put in work on that division,” Holland said. “I used to fight there, I got my first belt there, so I want to rinse and repeat here.”