K. Holland debuts at welterweight in March. Photo: Reproduction / YouTube
After a winless season in 2021, Kevin holland will make his welterweight debut (up to 77kg.) on March 5, against Alex Cowboy. Willing to repeat the success of 2020, when he won five fights in a row, the loudmouth used good humor to explain the change of division. Active on social media, the fighter revealed that he had been blocked on social media by highlights of the 83,9kg group.
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“(Marvin) Vettori blocked me. He couldn't handle the jokes. (…) Paulo Costa (Borrachinha) also excluded me. So that's probably why I went to welterweight. All the middleweight guys blocked me. I need people to provoke”, said the fighter, in an interview with 'The MMA Hour'.
Jokes aside, Holland explained the main reason for his change of division. The athlete spoke sincerely about the project and reinforced that the decision was an old desire.
“Before facing Brendan allen, I was thinking about moving down to welterweight. Then I lost (the fight) and I thought: 'Okay, I'll stay at middleweight and try to recover and then I'll go to welterweight'. This has been a long time project. When I was a local fighter, I had the thought: 'Do you want to die hungry or really hungry?'. At the time, I didn't know how to cut weight. So I would go without eating, trying to reach my limit. When you get to the UFC, you realize that there are big guys cutting weight and they do it the right way,” he said.
In the new reality, Kevin used Gilbert Durinho for example. The North American stated that a behind-the-scenes conversation with the Brazilian helped in making the decision.
“I was talking to Gilbert Durinho in the lobby before an event and he said to me, 'man, I cut more weight than you. I'm bigger and I fight at welterweight.' He used to play at lightweight (up to 70,3kg). (…) I had a bad welterweight cut once and I didn’t want to try again. Now, we have nutritionists. I went to the UFC Performance Institute and they released me to fight in the under-77kg category. Let’s put on a show,” he concluded.
The company's highlight in 2020, Holland opens the season with the obligation to erase the record of three fights without victories. The fighter will be welcomed into the new category by Alex Cowboy, in one of the fights of UFC 272.
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