UFC Fight Night 255 winner Kevin Holland admits lifestyle leads to active schedule

LONDON – Kevin Holland’s spending habits have him fighting very often.

Holland (27-13 MMA, 14-10 UFC) has already fought twice this year, and was able to rebound when he defeated Gunnar Nelson (19-6-1 MMA, 10-6 UFC) by unanimous decision in Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 255 main card at The O2 in London.

Holland, who fought and won five times in 2020, and has been the most active fighter on the roster since then, explains why he has no plans of changing his schedule.

“The amount of money I make these days, I could definitely slow down. But the amount of money I spend these days, I stay active,” Holland told reporters, including MMA Junkie during the post-fight news conference.

Holland acknowledges that he looks better at 170 pounds, but says that would slow down his activity.

“If it’s 170 pounds, then let’s be smart and I’ll possibly do a couple of months down the road  then another one a couple of months down the road,” Holland said. “If it’s 170 pounds, probably only get two more in this year, three at the most. If it’s 185 pounds, I can fight every f*cking weekend.”

Prior to beating Nelson, Holland was quickly submitted by Reinier de Ridder in their middleweight bout at UFC 311. He thinks he was able to handle Nelson’s strength and grappling a lot better not due to skill, but to the weight class.

“It’s a huge difference,” Holland said. “Fighting a guy like Gunnar, you can say a lot of things, but you can’t say he can’t grapple, you know what I mean? He can grapple pretty damn good, and if you’re asking people online, they would probably say that he’s a better grappler than ‘RDR.’ If he’s a better grappler than RDR, then size does play a difference in the game.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 255.