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Kevin Holland | Chasing History In 2025
Ultra-Active Middleweight Eyes Six, Maybe Seven Appearances This Year, Starting Saturday At UFC 311
Kevin Holland was born and raised in Inland Empire, and made his UFC debut six-plus years ago in Los Angeles, so while he’s based in Texas now, this weekend’s UFC 311 main card assignment against Reinier de Ridder at Intuit Dome is very much a home game for the talkative and active middleweight talent.
That first appearance at UFC 227 against Thiago Santos came just a few months after Holland earned a win over Will Santiago on the first week of the second season of Dana White’s Contender Series. He wasn’t awarded a contract, in part because the UFC CEO wasn’t overly pleased with the amount of jawing Holland did in the contest, leading to his branding him “Big Mouth,” which became an unofficial second nickname for the man already sporting the fight moniker “Trailblazer.”
BREAKING: Tsarukyan Out, Moicano Replaces As Title Challenger At UFC 311
Now, as he returns to compete at home for the first time since, the 32-year-old believes he’s reached a point where the two personalities are able to live harmoniously, each knowing when it’s time for the other to come out and take the lead.
“It was crazy because the name ‘Big Mouth’ did become permanent there, but I’ve always been jabber-jaws; I’ve always talked during competitions, been that type of guy,” Holland said during his Media Day appearance on Wednesday when asked to reflect on his debut and the name given to him by White. “That being said, it’s been a long time coming, and I finally feel like ‘Big Mouth’ and ‘Trailblazer’ have combined together and they know how to come out at the right time and the right place.
Order UFC 311: Makhachev vs Moicano
“I know how to be ‘Big Mouth’ right here for the media, for you guys, and in the fights when I’m already kicking a**, and I know how to be ‘Trailblazer,’ which is to go out there and get the win in a very beautiful way. So yeah, ‘TBBM,’ baby; ‘Trailblazer Big Mouth.’”
Saturday’s bout with de Ridder, which kicks off the five-fight, pay-per-view main card is an interesting pairing for both men.
For Holland, it’s a chance to show the improvements he’s made in terms of his grappling defense and potentially post a win over a highly regarded recent signee. And for the UFC sophomore de Ridder, he’s pitted against a dangerous measuring stick opponent with an opportunity to try and chase down a second win in three months and take a big step forward in the deepening 185-pound division.
In scouting his opponent, Holland doesn’t see all that much that he feels particularly worried about heading into Saturday night.
UFC 311 Full Fight Card Preview
“You look at his stats, you look at everything everybody says about the guy, and it says he’s six-four, ex-champ at 205 and ex-champ at ’85 in a different organization,” began Holland when asked about crossing paths with the Dutch grappler earlier in the day in the fighter hotel. “When you put that together, you’re usually thinking about a 205er like Jon Jones when they’re six-four, Alex Pereira, so you’re thinking this guy has to be 230 pounds, 240 pounds in the offseason; a huge guy.
“First time seeing him, he didn’t seem six-four and he didn’t seem to be 240 or anything close to that. He seemed to be a good six-foot-three, 178 pounds soaking wet, but we all know he’s a middleweight, so he’s heavier than that.
Best Moments: Kevin Holland
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Best Moments: Kevin Holland
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“I probably grappled less getting ready for this guy,” he added when asked if he focused more on his grappling ahead of sharing the Octagon with “RdR,” who has earned a dozen of his 18 career wins via submission. “If he subs me, that’d be f***in’ crazy. I don’t think he does anything great on the ground.
“Him in the Gerald Meerschaert fight was fun; Gerald is a tough person to fight — I’ve been there before, done that before — but that being said, Meerschaert just made a slight mistake, and had Meerschaert not made that mistake, I think Meerschaert would have won in round three; that guy was ready to quit.”
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Holland’s read of de Ridder’s debut effort plays directly into his plan of attack for Saturday night, where he intends to batter the former ONE Championship two-division titleholder to the point that he does, in fact, give up.
“If it goes three, I think we’ll spend one of those rounds up against the cage, him trying to take me down, ultimately him not being able to do it the way he wants to,” he said, offering his thoughts on how he sees the fight playing out. “Beatin’ him up a little to the body, beatin’ him up a little bit on the feet, beatin’ him up a little bit on the head. I said the body, the feet, and the head, and literally that’s where I mean: stompin’ his feet, kneeing his body, and blasting his head.
“Ultimately, I see him starting to fade and giving me the dub; that’s how I picture it,” Holland added. “When he lost his belts in the last organization, he kind of just faded and gave the belts away, so maybe that’s what he does: he fades and gives it away.”
With an early start to his 2025 campaign, the always active middleweight has his sights set on breaking a UFC record he currently shares with two other individuals.
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"The ideal would be six times,” Holland said when asked about the number of fights he’d like to log in the year ahead. “In 2020, we all know I didn’t have a lot of time to work and I still got a lot done that year, so this year, I’m starting off really, really early with it being January, and I’ve got plenty of time to work.”
Despite not starting his 2020 campaign until May when the UFC returned to action following a multi-week pause as the global coronavirus pandemic brought the world to a standstill, Holland still made five appearances, winning each of them, to match the record then shared by Roger Huerta and Neil Magny for the most UFC wins in a calendar year.
Having already competed and won five times in eight months in the midst of a pandemic, Holland sees no reason he shouldn’t be able to break the record and potentially distance himself from the pack over the next 12 months.
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“I think six would be easy,” he added. “And realistically, I could probably do seven, and make sure that nobody ever catches up again.”
That journey to try and break the record begins on Saturday, at home, and Holland couldn’t possibly be happier.
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“Any time I get to get in there and get going, I feel great,” he said when asked about making the walk this weekend. "Doesn’t matter what is going on in life: the moment that Octagon closes, everything is at peace, everything is happy, everything is beautiful; it’s the world I always craved.
“I’m definitely happy to be back at home, definitely happy to check out the new stadium, and even more happy to be back in the f***in’ cage again. I love it.”
UFC 311: Makhachev vs Moicano took place live from Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California on January 18, 2025. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!
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