Kevin Holland, the UFC middleweight who won 5 fights in a row in 2022, has officially made his move down to welterweight. The man welcoming him in his first fight in the division ia Alex “Cowboy” Oliviera.
Speaking to MMA Fighting about this move down to 170 lbs, Holland had this to say
“Make no mistake about it, I’m getting humped by these huge ass guys at 185,” Holland said. “They’re not doing no damage, they’re just laying on top of me. I go down 170 pounds, if I can get up from these guys who are pretty good wrestlers at 85, I know for sure what I can do at 170.”
MMA Fighting
After having a fantastic 2020, which saw Kevin shoot to UFC fame, 2021 was not quite so successful for Kevin, who lost 3 times in the Octagon. In these fights, Kevin’s crisp striking was nullified by high class wrestling from his opponents.
As you can see from his quote above, Kevin feels that a move down the UFC weight classes to welterweight will help him win more fights. He doesn’t believe that the guys at 170 lbs will have the strength to keep him on the ground.
Alex Oliviera should be an interesting challenge for the big-mouthed Kevin Holland, especially since he doesn’t have a wrestling heavy fighting style. The 2 fighters will meet at UFC 272 later this year.
