Athletes
KURT HOLOBAUGH | PERSISTENCE PAYS OFF
Veteran Discusses Long Journey To UFC Winner’s Circle Ahead Of Showdown With Alexander Hernandez On Saturday
For a lot of fighters, competing in the UFC and being a UFC fighter are two different things, with the distinction often being whether or not they’ve had their hand raised in victory in the center of the Octagon. It’s kind of like how many titleholders don’t fully consider themselves champions until they’ve successfully defended the belt at least once; you really want to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that you belong, and that you weren’t just passing through.
Kurt Holobaugh passed through the UFC a couple of times earlier in this career, landing on the wrong side of the results each time. But after earning a third opportunity to compete on the biggest stage in the sport by winning the lightweight competition on Season 31 of The Ultimate Fighter, the 38-year-old Louisiana native finally collected his first official UFC victory last July.
“It felt…” began Holobaugh, who faces off with Alexander Hernandez this weekend in a compelling lightweight clash on Saturday’s main card, pausing to find the right words. “It was one of the best feelings in the world.
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“It’s something you dream of, and fighting for so long, overcoming everything I’ve overcome in my fighting career — to be able to go out there and get a victory over a guy that’s pretty tough was great.”
Holobaugh is the definition of a journeyman fighter in the traditional sense, not the modern iteration where the word has been turned into a pejorative.
He made his pro debut in 2011 and went 9-0 to start before dropping a decision to Pat Healy under the Strikeforce banner and another to Steven Siler at UFC 159, his initial cup of coffee with the MMA leader. He went back to the regional circuit, posted five straight wins, including claiming the Titan FC featherweight title by beating future UFC competitor Des Green before another two-fight skid once again forced him to reset.
Three straight finishes under the Titan FC banner brought about the opportunity to compete on the first episode of Dana White’s Contender Series, where he stopped Matt Bessette in the opening round, only for the result to be overturned after Holobaugh used an IV following his weight cut to rehydrate, which is prohibited.
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He still earned a contract and made his way back into the Octagon, but his second tour of duty didn’t work out, either, as he dropped three straight against Raoni Barcelos, Shane Burgos, and Thiago Moises to once again find himself being handed his walking papers.
“After my first stint in the UFC, my goal was to get back to the UFC,” said Holobaugh, retracing his steps and his thoughts throughout his circuitous journey to the UFC winner’s circle. “Fought some tough guys outside of the UFC, travelled, gained a lot of experience fighting tough guys that were either in the UFC or had that pedigree.
“Making it back getting on the Contender Series, after that second stint, I was kind of like, ‘Well my UFC dream is over, but lemme see what else is out there. Can I compete in Bellator? PFL? Where can I go make some money fighting?’ I kept fighting, took every opportunity my management gave me, and that, of course, led back to The Ultimate Fighter and another stint in the UFC.”
He advanced to the finals of the lightweight tournament with stoppage wins over Lee Hammond and Jason Knight before catching fellow Team Chandler representative Austin Hubbard in a triangle choke midway through the second round to add his name to the roll call of Ultimate Fighter winners. But that one only got him back on the roster officially, and in his post-TUF return, he lost to Trey Ogden in a bout where the Marathon MMA leader was able to pin his shoulders to the canvas and keep them there for prolonged stretches of each round.
But last July, Holobaugh finally broke through, banking the first two rounds on all three cards in his bout with fellow DWCS alum Kaynan Kruschewsky to earn a unanimous decision victory and his first official UFC win.
As much as it was a massive moment for himself both personally and professionally, what really made it special to the proud father of four is what it teaches his kids about perseverance and dedication.
“I think that’s one of the best things about it, if I’m being honest, and one of the things I look forward to more than anything,” said Holobaugh. “More than fighting in the UFC, more than winning in the UFC is being somebody that can be a role model for my kids; showing them that with hard work and never giving up on something you believe in, anything is possible.
“When I first started fighting, my kids were babies, but now, my youngest is five years old and he’s already looking forward to going to the APEX and watching me fight. My kids are 16, 14, 12, and 5 and now they really know what it all is, too.
“I think that’s the best thing about it, to be honest with you.”
Now he returns to Las Vegas looking to turn his victory over Kruschewsky into the start of a winning streak as he steps in with Hernandez this weekend.
“Big fight!” offered Holobaugh when asked his initial reaction to being paired off with Hernandez, who enters off a win over Hubbard at UFC 307 last October in Salt Lake City. “I feel like even for me, I’ve been around the UFC for quite a while now, I’ve fought some tough guys. Winning The Ultimate Fighter is a big accomplishment, so I was wanting guys like Alexander, Jim Miller, Joe Lauzon.
“He’s done a lot in the UFC, got some big wins, fought some tough guys, some high-level and name-brand guys, so when they gave me the fight, my first thought was ‘that’s a big fight; a tough fight.’”
Now 32, Hernandez kicked in the door when he first arrived in the UFC, earning a stoppage win over Beneil Dariush when the Kings MMA man was on the ascent and following it up with a victory over TUF Nations finalist Olivier Aubin-Mercier, which landed him as the favorite heading into a showdown with Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone at the start of 2019.
He lost that contest with the UFC Hall of Fame inductee and has been hit-or-miss since then, with several of his setbacks coming in fights where he’s started well and then faltered, which Holobaugh sees as one of his keys to victory this weekend.
“First off, I think he’s very good and he’s shown that,” he said of Hernandez. “My thing is that everybody is human, and everybody can be knocked out. When you fight, all it takes is one mistake, and if you get clipped one time, you might not get knocked out, but it can change the entire fight.
“I think that’s what I would need to do early: I have to do something to knock him off his game early — whether it’s a big punch or defending a couple of takedowns — and try to take advantage and impose my game after that.”
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Getting that first victory last July was a milestone accomplishment for the veteran lightweight, and he sees beating Hernandez in the same light, hoping that it will help carry him closer to the next goal he’d like to achieve during this third stint on the UFC roster.
“It would be a huge achievement,” he said of beating Hernandez. “To get a win over a guy that was in the Top 10 not that long ago says a lot, and I think it’s gonna move up me up a lot in the rankings.
“That’s one of my goals — to see a number beside my name in the UFC — and Alex has had that, so I wanna steal that from him. I wanna go out, beat him, and show, ‘He was Top 10 in the world, and I’m good enough to be Top 10 in the world.’”
And in terms of more short-term goals, Holobaugh is hopeful that a third straight March start will be followed by another July appearance, and then one more before the year is out.
“This will be my third year in a row fighting in March,” he said with a smile, noting he fought twice in March during his time on TUF. “I feel like these fights are falling on the same timeline every year.
“Hopefully all goes well, and I’ll fight again in July, like I did last year, and if I can catch one before the end of the year, that’s a good year of fighting.”
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