Kevin Holland

Mike Malott took a unanimous decision from Holland in Vancouver and extended Holland's skid to two straight fights.

Key moments

• Lost a unanimous decision after three rounds.
• Dropped back-to-back fights for the first time since the 2021 Vettori and Brunson losses.
• Ended the year still searching for the sharper version that had shown up against Luque and Nelson.

Holland returned to welterweight in London and shut down most of Gunnar Nelson's offense across a unanimous decision win. It was the kind of veteran, measured performance he needed after the de Ridder loss, especially against a grappler who can usually make opponents uncomfortable.

Key moments

• Won a unanimous decision after three rounds.
• Nearly scored an early knockdown before settling into a cleaner long-range fight.
• Answered the January loss to Reinier de Ridder with a disciplined welterweight reset.

Holland's return to middleweight at UFC 311 ended badly once Reinier de Ridder turned the fight into a grappling match and found Holland's back. The quick submission loss mattered because it halted the small welterweight reset and reminded everyone how risky Holland's style becomes against larger, layered grapplers.

Key moments

• Holland took the bout at 185 pounds against a former two-division ONE champion.
• De Ridder got the fight to the mat and steadily improved position rather than chasing a wild finish.
• The rear-naked choke ended the fight at 3:31 of round one.
• It was a sharp setback after Holland had just gone 3-2 over his previous five UFC appearances.

The win was vintage Holland: chaos first, then a sudden opportunistic submission that changed the whole night.

Key moments

• Oleksiejczuk hurt Holland early and nearly overwhelmed him before the grappling exchange turned.
• Holland attacked the arm immediately once the scramble opened the position.
• Reports afterward focused on just how badly the submission damaged Oleksiejczuk's arm.

Holland gave Della Maddalena a close, competitive three-round fight in Las Vegas, but two judges leaned the other way in a split decision. It was one of those useful Holland performances that kept him relevant even in defeat because he remained dangerous and hard to separate from the division's sharper boxers.

Key moments

• The matchup played out as a technical but competitive welterweight striking fight.
• The official cards read 28-29, 29-28 and 29-28 for Della Maddalena.
• The loss was narrow enough that it did little to change Holland's reputation as a live underdog against ranked welterweights.

Holland punished Chiesa for forcing grappling exchanges by catching the neck and finishing him inside three minutes. It was a statement welterweight win because Chiesa is supposed to drag people into his game, but Holland met him there and ended it anyway.

Key moments

• The fight ended in the first round at 2:39.
• Holland used a brabo choke to submit a veteran known for his own grappling pressure.
• It was another reminder that Holland's front-headlock game can punish even strong wrestling entries.

Holland's main event with Thompson produced one of the most entertaining stand-up fights of the year, but Thompson's cleaner kicking game and veteran composure wore him down over four rounds. Holland's corner stopped it between rounds, ending a fight that was action-packed enough to become an obvious Fight of the Night pick.

Key moments

• The bout headlined UFC Orlando and was billed as a striker's delight from the start.
• Thompson repeatedly found Holland with cleaner kicks and counters while Holland kept charging forward.
• The fight was widely treated as one of the best action scraps on the UFC schedule that year.

After the UFC 279 card was reshuffled by Khamzat Chimaev's weight miss, Holland ended up drawing the most dangerous replacement fight on the board and was submitted quickly. It was an ugly style collision from the opening seconds, with Chimaev overwhelming him before Holland could create any range at all.

Key moments

• The fight only happened after the event's late-week weight-cut chaos reshuffled the card.
• Chimaev swarmed immediately and never let Holland settle into a striking rhythm.
• The brabo choke finished the fight at 2:13 of round one.
• The result sent Holland from a featured welterweight fight into the worst possible short-notice grappling matchup.

Holland stepped in on short notice for a second straight main event and spent most of the night being grounded and controlled by Vettori. The loss exposed the same wrestling-control issue that Brunson had just shown a few weeks earlier, only over another full five rounds.

Key moments

• Holland accepted the fight on short notice after Darren Till withdrew.
• Vettori repeatedly grounded him and banked long stretches of top control across the full 25 minutes.
• All three judges scored the fight unanimously for Vettori.
• The defeat made it back-to-back main-event losses after Holland's 2020 surge.

Holland closed his five-fight 2020 campaign with one of the strangest knockouts in recent UFC memory, putting Jacare away from his back with punches.

Key moments

• The knockout came while Holland was underneath Souza in a grappling exchange.
• He rocked Jacare with short punches off his back before swarming to finish.
• The official stoppage came at 1:45 of round one.

Stewart forced Holland into a scrappier, less comfortable fight than expected, but Holland still escaped with a split decision in Las Vegas. It was one of the narrower wins of his busy 2020 stretch and a reminder that his style can make fights look closer than his talent level suggests.

Key moments

• The fight was competitive enough that one judge scored it against Holland.
• Holland had to rely on rounds won rather than a late finish to get the result.
• The official verdict was a split decision after three rounds.

Buckley made Holland work harder than expected, but Holland's composure and range eventually won out in the third round.

Key moments

• The fight stayed competitive long enough to reach the third round.
• Holland closed the show with a punch just 32 seconds into the final frame.
• The win came before Buckley exploded into wider UFC fame a few months later.
• It was Holland's second UFC victory inside a three-month stretch.

The finish was so quick that it served more as a statement of intent than as a drawn-out test.

Key moments

• The fight ended just 39 seconds into the opening round.
• Holland finished Hernandez with knees followed by punches.
• It was his first UFC win of the unusually busy 2020 calendar year.

Allen grounded Holland often enough to turn a competitive fight into a submission win in Boston. The loss mattered because it was another early example of the kind of grappling pressure that could pull Holland away from his preferred striking rhythm.

Key moments

• Allen steadily turned the fight toward grappling rather than long striking exchanges.
• The rear-naked choke ended the bout at 3:38 of round two.
• It was Holland's second UFC loss in his first five appearances with the promotion.
• The matchup foreshadowed the kind of stylistic problems strong top-position fighters could cause him.

Holland had to fight through a competitive, messy middleweight bout with Di Chirico rather than coasting on range. After dropping a close first round and dealing with a possible shoulder issue, he did just enough with his kicks, clinch work and late cleaner shots to take a unanimous decision.

Key moments

• Di Chirico landed a sharp clinch elbow in round one and finished the frame on top after a slam.
• Holland answered with body work, low kicks and a brief power-double takedown in the second.
• The doctor checked Holland's right shoulder between rounds before allowing him to continue.
• He won the fight by unanimous decision after three close rounds.

Holland and Meerschaert spent nearly the entire fight scrambling through takedowns, guillotines and back takes, with neither man holding a clean edge for long. Holland survived the deepest submission scares, did his best damage from top position and escaped with a split decision.

Key moments

• Round one alone featured both men threatening guillotines and rear-naked chokes.
• Holland repeatedly scrambled out of Meerschaert's grappling and answered with punches from mount.
• A low kick briefly dropped Meerschaert early in the third before another scramble reset the fight.
• The official cards were 29-27, 28-29 and 30-27 for Holland.

Holland's UFC debut quickly turned into a violent body-shot clinic against the charging Phillips. After battering him with kicks and knees for two rounds, Holland finally mixed in his wrestling late and took the back for a third-round rear-naked choke.

Key moments

• Repeated body kicks had Phillips doubled over and hurt almost from the opening minute.
• A flying knee near the end of round one drove Phillips to the canvas and produced 10-8 scores.
• Phillips still had moments landing hooks when he could close the distance.
• Holland used takedowns and back takes in round three before finishing the choke at 4:05.

Holland's short-notice UFC debut against Thiago Santos showed exactly why he was intriguing and exactly how raw he still was at that level. He threatened Santos with submissions and briefly stole the second round, but Santos' heavier top game and damage carried the decision.

Key moments

• Holland jumped guard early and came close to catching Santos in an armbar.
• Santos answered with heavy elbows and punches from top position in round one.
• Holland rallied in round two, hurting Santos with a right hand and sweeping to top with a kimura sequence.
• Santos closed strong in round three and won unanimously, with one card reading 29-26.

Holland used the Contender Series slot to show his range, length and willingness to fight at a strange rhythm for the full fifteen minutes. He controlled most of the action with kicks, straight shots and occasional bursts of showboating on the way to a clear unanimous decision.

Key moments

• His reach advantage was obvious immediately, and he mixed kicks with short clinch offense early.
• Round two turned when a right hand wobbled Santiago and Holland followed with an uppercut and flying knee.
• Santiago still had enough success to clip Holland when he got careless in the third.
• All three judges scored it 30-27 for Holland.

Holland needed less than three minutes to turn a takedown attempt into a finish against Dooley on the Bellator prelims. The ending was pure opportunism: he rolled through the shot, caught Dooley diving into the position and snapped on the triangle choke immediately.

Key moments

• Dooley's takedown attempt created the opening rather than putting Holland in danger.
• Holland somersaulted through the shot and landed with the triangle already forming.
• He adjusted quickly and forced the tap without a prolonged grappling battle.
• The submission came at 2:59 of round one.

Holland rebounded from the Curtis Millender loss by wiping out Grady Hurley in just over a minute at LFA 21. It was exactly the kind of quick regional reminder he needed before climbing back toward bigger opportunities.

Key moments

• The finish came only 1:24 into the opening round.
• The bout served as Holland's immediate bounce-back after his first LFA main event defeat.
• The quick finish moved him back into the win column before the XKO title-defense stretch.

Holland got a cleaner finish in the rematch with Sam Liera, shifting from the earlier striking stoppage to a second-round guillotine. It showed how quickly his regional game was broadening as he moved between promotions and weight classes.

Key moments

• The rematch ended by guillotine choke at 4:23 of round two.
• The bout was listed at welterweight on the KOTC: Martial Law card.
• It gave Holland a second straight win over the same opponent in 2016.

loss. It also marked his return to welterweight on the regional circuit.

Key moments

• The stoppage came 2:56 into round two.
• It was the first of Holland's two 2016 wins over Liera.
• The result moved him back into the win column after his only 2015 loss.