Holland explains why he doesn’t want to be ranked in the UFC

The UFC welterweight said he only wants to fight ‘cans’.

Kevin Holland remains one of the more interesting characters on the UFC roster, both for his antics inside and outside of the Octagon. ‘Trailblazer’ recently announced—via a comedy skit—that his next appearance will be at UFC Austin opposite Tim Means.

Holland recently spoke with The Schmo about his upcoming fight and his approach to this stage of his career. Surprisingly, Holland admitted that he’s not interested in getting ranked in the promotion’s welterweight division.

“Honestly, I’m on my ‘Suga’ Sean O’Malley shit right now,” Holland quipped. “See he’s trying to get ranked and I’m trying to stay unranked you know what I mean, I want to fight any ‘can’ so I can get paid and I feel like that’s the way to go.”

Holland referenced O’Malley’s oft-stated stance that he was not looking for ranked opponent’s while still on his entry-level UFC contract. O’Malley, who has won three fights in a row, may have diverted from that thinking, though. He faces Pedro Munhoz at UFC 276 in July.

Holland came into the UFC via the Contender Series in 2018. His proper promotional debut came at UFC 277 against Thiago Santos, a fight he lost by unanimous decision. Holland followed that up with three straight wins before a submission loss to Brendan Allen at the end of 2019.

2020 was a banner year for Holland, who did something very few fighters have done. That year he reeled of five wins inside the Octagon, including a bizarre KO of ‘Jacare’ Souza. 2021 wasn’t as kind to Holland. He lost to Derek Brunson and Marvin Vettori in main events and was then was involved in an odd no contest with Kyle Daukaus.

In March Holland got back to winning ways with a TKO over Alex Oliveira at UFC 272.