Rivalries: Kevin Holland

Kevin Holland has covered a lot of distance since he joined the Ultimate Fighting Championship a little more than four years ago. Just how much further he can go remains to be seen.

The Dana White’s Contender Series graduate will square off with Daniel Rodriguez in a featured UFC 279 catchweight attraction on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Holland, 29, steps into the Octagon on the strength of back-to-back victories. He last appeared at UFC on ESPN 37, where he submitted former King of the Cage Tim Means with a brabo choke in the second round of their June 18 pairing.

As Holland approaches his forthcoming battle with Rodriguez at 180 pounds, a look at a few of the rivalries that have helped shape his career to this point:

Thiago Santos

The Brazilian leaned on a combination of guile and brute force when he laid claim to a unanimous decision over Holland in their UFC 227 middleweight showcase on Aug. 4, 2018 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Scores were 29-27, 29-27 and 29-26. Santos navigated some considerable difficulty in the second round, fought through fatigue, tore into the organizational newcomer with kicks and kept him off-balance with takedowns and ground-and-pound, all while threatening with a few arm-triangle chokes along the way. By the time their 15-minute encounter was over, Santos had outlanded Holland by a 69-31 margin significant strikes, completed three takedowns and piled up nearly 10 minutes of control time.

Brendan Allen

The former Legacy Fighting Alliance champion submitted Holland with a rear-naked choke in the second round of their UFC on ESPN 6 middleweight prelim on Oct. 18, 2019 at the TD Garden in Boston. The end came 3:38 into Round 2. Allen did not escape unscathed. Holland—a short-notice replacement for the injured Eric Spicely—opened a diagonal cut on his left eyebrow in the first round, advanced to mount and flirted with a rear-naked choke. His efforts failed and provided Allen with new life entering the middle stanza. Holland executed a takedown early in Round 2 but squandered his advantage and wound up in bottom position. Allen settled in half guard, applied his ground-and-pound and briefly climbed to full mount before transitioning to the fight-ending choke. It remains Holland’s only submission defeat in UFC competition.

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Joaquin Buckley

Holland cut down the Bellator MMA veteran with a chopping right hand in third round as part of the UFC Fight Night 174 undercard on Aug. 8, 2020 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Unsuccessful in his Octagon debut, Buckley bowed out 32 seconds into Round 3. Holland weathered a continuous stream of power punches, many of them to the body, and dragged the UFC rookie into deeper waters. He floored Buckley in the first round, worked behind an effective jab in the second and clocked out in the third. There, Holland caught his heavy-handed adversary leaning and uncorked a devastating right hand that put him on the canvas, sent his mouthpiece flying and prompted referee Mark Smith to intervene to prevent further damage.

Ronaldo Souza

The surging Holland punched out the two-time Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World Championships gold medalist in the first round of their featured UFC 256 middleweight attraction on Dec. 12, 2020 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Souza checked out 1:45 into Round 1. Holland remained calm under duress after being taken down by the former Strikeforce champion. He initially threatened Souza with a triangle and elbows from his back, returned to an upright position and made a pass at a guillotine choke. After relinquishing his grip on the Brazilian’s neck, Holland lured him into a kneeling position and unleashed a series of right hands—first from his back, then while seated—that left “Jacare” dazed and defenseless against the cage. Sensing the end was near, he continued to fire punches as he returned to his feet and battered Souza until he was bent over backwards and unconscious.

Derek Brunson

The Sanford MMA representative executed takedowns in four of the five rounds, amassed copious amounts of control time, applied his ground-and-pound and ignored the interminable trash talk, as he took a unanimous decision from Holland in the UFC on ESPN 21 headliner on March 20, 2021 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Scores were 49-45, 49-46 and 49-46. Holland was effective so long as he remained upright. However, Brunson withstood his bursts of violence and used his aggression against him, closing the distance to either clinch or pursue takedowns. Holland did what he could to hide his frustration, but his deficit grew with each passing round. He opened a cut near Brunson’s right eye in the fifth round and even recorded a takedown of his own. Success, however, was short-lived and empty. Brunson returned to his feet, secured his final takedown with a little more than a minute left in the match and chewed up the remaining time. The setback snapped Holland’s five-fight winning streak and halted his upward trajectory in the middleweight division.